Everything You Left Behind
by La Pirate Rose
Summary: Sequal to Looking Back to Find the Future. Maya is hiding from the DeathEaters in California, and everyone assumes she's dead. But her cover is blown when she's accused of murder ... and it's Snape to the rescue! SSOC. Rated K so far.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the sequal to 'Looking Back To Find The Future'. Read that one first, or you will be REALLY confused. and I mean, REALLY confused. There are a bunch of new characters and relationships, etc. But the first one is quite entertaining, if I do say so myself, so go ahead. Enjoy. If you've read it and you're ready for this one, please ... proceed. Oh yeah. I don't own it. Only the new characters. Those are mine. And I even created them on the Sims, so I can prove it if anyone sues me. Don't know how that'll hold up in court, but ... whatever. Here we go!**

Flashback:

Trevor Wraid looked out over the star-lit sky. The evening was warm, and the champagne had kept his blood in his ears. He briefly thought back over his life as he stared at the speckled horizon: his childhood, his stint in law school, his marriage … Maya Howe had been a lovely girl. Beautiful, confident, nice legs, nice accent. And all those sisters! Aria was too old for him, and he considered her a little socially constipated anyway, and lacked the accent that turned him on so much. Athena had the accent, and was a ton of fun, but he considered her quite stupid. How she had become a healer, he would never know. Maybe the wizarding world had lower standards for their medical technicians than did his world. She was also too fat for his tastes. He snorted. She reminded him of a sausage back then, and when he had seen her for mere moments back at the freakshow dining room in England, he saw that she had only gotten wider in the last fifteen years. As it was, Maya began to put on a little weight about three months into their marriage, and he found that quite disappointing. 'Skinny and mini' was how he liked 'em, he thought with a smile. Small enough to throw over your shoulder like a caveman.

He thought of Meena next, statuesque and perfect. She had come to him, and he had slept with her. It was only too bad his wife had found out. He rubbed his finger over his wine glass and idly wondered how on Earth she had discovered that juicy tidbit of information. Ah, well. It was in the past. As he knew it, both Maya and Meena were dead, and he was home free! Granted, he still managed to feel sorry for himself: after all, he had unknowingly spent the last fifteen years – his prime years, too! – as a fluffy white dog that followed his ex-wife around. Luckily, Trevor was able to declare himself legally undead and pound out a few quick inspirational articles about his experience of getting his life back together after a fifteen year coma. A few talk show appearances later, he landed a book deal, and was able to hook himself up an apartment in the nicer part of Los Angeles, California. He looked around. Yes, indeed, life had been rough, but now he was back on top. He giggled to himself, and looked sideways at the young girl next to him that he hoped to be on top of soon as well.

Olga Klanova, the up and coming tennis star, was lounging as gracefully as a twenty-year-old drunk athlete could across a lawn chair on Trevor's balcony. She swished her wine glass full of vodka dreamily. This date, like most of their other dates, was silent – she spoke mostly Russian, and Trevor really just liked her accent. The night air settled in, and Olga pretended to shiver, and climbed in Trevor's lap. He was only too happy to oblige her. Yes, life was sweet.

Trevor shifted his weight, and brought out a small, velvet jewelry box.

"Olga, you are, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful women I have ever met," he said. She smiled as though this was not news to her. "Here, my darling. I want you to have this." He popped open the box to reveal a delicate silver ring. There was an inscription on the inside of it, but Trevor was clueless. He planned to lie about the meaning if Olga asked. While in actuality the ring bore the Slytherin motto, Trevor could not have known the first thing about it. He wasn't in Slytherin. He had no idea what it meant, or why it was significant. Nor, really, did he care. If he had, he may have realized how bad of an idea it was to blindly give the ring away. "It was my sister's," he lied. "And she was beautiful. Not as beautiful as you, but close." He smiled with a hint of a leer, and gave her the ring.

"Oh, Trevor!" she squealed in her Russian accent. "It's lovely!"

"Put it on!" They stood drunkenly, and she slipped the ring on her finger. She held her hand up, and they both admired it in the starlight. Until something strange began to happen. Her skin began to slowly change shades. Playing tennis in LA constantly had made Olga rather tan, but her tan was melting away. Her eyes went wide, and Trevor cocked his head. They both stared. The de-tanning of the young girl was now becoming apparent on her neck and face as well.

"Olga! Your face!" Trevor squeaked.

"What is happening?" she asked, and Trevor watched as her eyes turned from brown to blue, and her face began to seemingly rearrange itself. The balcony began to shake, as if there were an earthquake, and Trevor held tight to the railing. There was thunder, and lightening, and Trevor looked to the sky. When he turned his head back to his young girlfriend, he was surprised – no, shocked and horrified – to see that she was gone.

And in her place stood his ex-wife, Maya Howe.

"You!" he yelled. "I thought you were dead! What have you done to Olga!"

Maya brushed herself off. "Trevor?" She looked around to get her bearings. "What the hell? WHERE'S MY DOG!"

They stood and stared at each other for a moment. Maya continued in exasperation and anger. "This ring was a horcrux. I gave it to Harry to give to Severus so he could stick it back on my body to revive me! How did you get it!" She paused, and then looked at him disgustedly. "And why did you give it to your girlfriend?"

"Why did you turn me into a dog?"

"You slept with my sister!"

"So!"

Maya just looked at him. "You are such an idiot," she said slowly, as if to force him to understand. And she walked towards his door, slamming it on her way out. As she walked down the stairs and out the front door, she began to cry. Her life was over. She had been dead for … well, she didn't even know how long. Several months, she assumed. She couldn't show up alive again in the muggle world. No one would understand. And no doubt if she were to go to the wizarding world, the Dark Lord would kill her immediately. Why hadn't Snape taken the ring? A thought struck her … Was Snape dead? Had Voldemort killed him? And what of her sisters? She sat on a bench outside Trevor's building, and wept. She had to start over. She couldn't let anyone know she was back. It was too dangerous.

She couldn't tell anyone. Least of all Severus Snape. She took a deep breath, stood, and apperated away - away to begin her new life.

**ok, I know that's a tease, because it's basically the same thing over again ... but I had to catch everyone up. You know how it is. More soon.**

**-Popess2**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two! More background stuff, but interesting none the less. Gotta set everything up for the actual story. Don't worry, Sev-fans. He'll be here soon. Thanks for reading! By the way ... I don't own it ... blah blah blah.**

Flashback:

Two years had passed since Maya and Meena's deaths, and the Howe family had suffered another staggering loss. Maya, of course, didn't find out until she saw the article in a literary magazine. She felt as though she had been hit in the stomach. She dropped the paper, and screamed out loud in the kitchen of the little cottage on Pismo Beach that she shared with her new daughter, Brigid. The infant, woken from her mid-morning nap, began to scream as well, terrified by her mother's wailing. Maya sobbed on the floor for almost 20 minutes before she had the strength to go to her crying child. They cried together for a moment, until Brigid again fell into slumber, and Maya had no choice but to read the article.

Jaemara Howe, wife of esteemed author

Satinum Howe, passed away peacefully

in her sleep Monday night due to

complications from a long illness. Mr.

Howe, who, almost two years ago lost

two of his daughters in a tragic accident,

was not available for comment. It is

assumed that in the wake of this latest

personal disaster, the once great author and

poet will continue with his reclusive ways,

and perhaps, be unableto recover. No

word on how his remaining children are

handling their mother's death and father's

impending breakdown. A private service

will be held on the family grounds in the UK

later this week.

Mayadropped the article, and walked out to the beach. She stood, ankle deep in the shimmering ocean, not caring that the bottom of her jeans were soaked with the salty surf. She stared off at the empty horizon, lost in thought, until the tide had gone out and left her feet dry, sandy and wrapped gently in seaweed. The sun had begun it's afternoon descent into the sea, and Maya held her head high, and used up her last bit of energy to shuffle herself back into the house to check on Brigid.

She sank into the couch, and contemplated her feet. Of course, she hadn't seen her mother in almost two years. After being killed by Voldemort and accidentally brought back to life by her idiotic ex-husband, Maya had moved to San Luis Obispo to begin again. She bought a house, a small beach cottage, and got a lucrative position as a real estate agent. Not her cup of tea, of course, but it paid the bills and gave her enough of a resume to be able to adopt her beautiful Brigid, who was now almost 19 months old.

Maya missed her sisters, but she had gotten along without them for long periods of time before. She missed her parents, but she normally only saw them once or twice a year as well. Mostly, she realized as she went through her day to day life, she missed Severus. It was ridiculous, she chided herself. She had gone almost twenty years in between seeing him last. But now she was sure he was dead, and she would never see him again. And that feeling of not being able to say goodbye had eaten away at her since she could remember. And now the same feeling in regards to her mother threatened to haunt her.Maya knew she wouldn't be able to handle that feeling twofold, so she made the decision to go to her mother's funeral.

Two days later, Maya, who had cut her long blonde hair off into a stylish pixie bob and dyed it a striking burgundy, stood on the outskirts of the Howe family plot. She watched from a distance as two women escorted an older man into chairs in the front row. One was chubby and blonde, and the other was tall, austere and brunette. Maya took in a deep breath and willed herself not to cry at the first sight of her two remaining sisters and father after these two years. She was still convinced that it was dangerous for her to be seen, so she had gone to the trouble of hiding herself in a large black coat, as well as an oversized black hat and huge sunglasses. She had barely recognized herself, and she was sure no one else would know she was present. They thought she was dead, after all, and had probably ceased to think about her a long while ago, she reasoned. She tilted her head down, and walked purposefully toward the plot.

The ceremony was beautiful, but short. Jaemara had been a fine woman, but Satinum and his daughters, in no mood for company, had insistedthat only close family and friends be present. So naturally, when a tall, very tan, brunette who was covered almost entirely by black garb lurked around the back of the small crowd, the remaining Howe family was bound to notice. Aria Howe, who was sick and tired of being looked at as a member of the now notoriously tragic Howe family, stared straight ahead, and eyed the mystery visitor suspiciously. She looked familiar, but Aria couldn't place her. She was too young to be one of her mother's society friends, and all their cousins and inlaws were accounted for. Could this be someone's daughter? She nudged Athena who looked at her through bleary eyes. She motioned up to the woman, and Athena looked at her and let out a little gasp. But she shook her head hard, and only began to cry harder.

When the service was over, she leaned on her sister's shoulder.

"Whoever she was, she reminded me of Meena," Athena said through hiccups. "Oh … Oh God …" And she began to sob fresh tears. Aria bit her lip, and looked around to find the mystery woman all in black. She seemed nowhere about,but she noticed her father out of the corner of her eye striding strongly towards a large oak in the center of the garden. She jogged after him, as fast as her boots would allow, and caught up with him in time to see something most extraordinary.

The mystery woman was kneeling below the tree, staring solemnly at a bed of roses that Jaemara had tended before her illness. The flowers were wildly overgrown now, but she held one bud delicately between her fingers, and watched the petals flutter in the breeze.

Satinum hobbled to the woman and collapsed onto the ground next to her, grabbing her wrist.

"Maya, my child! Maya! Where have you been!" Satinum's crazed rantings made Aria jump over to him, and lift him from the ground. "Maya, Maya!" he continued to cry, refusing to loosen his grip on her wrist. The mystery woman looked as though she was going to have a heart attack, and Aria wrenched her father away, throwing an apologetic,

"He's distraught, you understand," over her shoulder as she led her senile father away. She didn't see the mystery woman clutch her head in her hands, and quickly apperate as far away from the Howe family home as possible. Athena and Aria never discussed who they and their father all thought they had seen that day, and the subject of their sister was not brought up again for a very long time. On the other side of the world, Maya Howe, similarly, put everything from her previous life out of her mind, and would not think of any of them, except for in her dreams, for years to come.

**I know. More Flashbacks. Just getting everyone up to speed on what's been happening with everybody in their world. Actual story begins in the next chapter. Read and Review! ... Or you can wait until stuff starts happening ... but what the hell. I like any sort of review.**

**-p2**


	3. Chapter 3

**ok, here's the real stuff. Read and Review! THanks. p2**

PRESENT DAY: (3 years later … 2 years after the War with Voldemort)

"Severus!" A voice echoed through the halls at Kent University. "Severus!" A young girl with shockingly dark hair and enormous brown eyes was striding down the hall, yelling Severus's name into each classroom doorway she could find. "Sever-oh! There you are!" She finally came upon her professor, Severus Snape, sitting at a desk in an empty chemistry lab, thoughtfully looking over a list of ingredients. He lowered his list, obviously annoyed by his young pupil.

"If you insist on calling me by my first name, I must ask that you do not screech it throughout the corridors like some sort of banshee." He narrowed his eyes. "What in Merlin's name could you possibly want? Is it not Friday? Should you not be partaking in typical activities for young women of your age?"

She smiled at him and flopped down in the rolling chair that was abandoned behind him, crossing her levi-clad legs flamboyantly, and kicking her huge leather boots on the desk next to him. He eyes them with unmasked disdain. "I already had a cigarette out in the parking garage, if that's what you're referring to," she smirked offhndedly. "I came to make sure you weren't still here. It is Friday, as you pointed out." She winked at him. She whipped a switchblade out of her boot, and flipped it open. She swiped an orange out of one of Snape's open drawers, and began to peel it savagely.

Snape sighed heavily. Nozomi Osuda was a brilliant chemistry student, currently in her second year towards a PhD. She worked as a teaching assistant in Snape's lab and classroom at the University, and he pretended to merely tolerate her, when he actually found her, in spite of himself, quite agreeable. She was cute and dark, like a Japanese wood sprite, and serious about her science. She was playful at the right moments, but had a reckless abandon about her that Severus didn't really understand, but could relate to all the same. He even caught himself thinking impurely about her from time to time, until he had to remind himself that she was 26, fifteen years his junior.

"Nozomi, you know perfectly well that I will continue to experiment tonight, as these vials need to be finished and tested by Sunday evening, so that I can be ready for classes on Monday. Those horrid first years can't teach themselves how to mix chemicals." Snape sneered, although his sneer wasn't nearly as foul as it had been when working at Hogwarts. He found this change of scenery to be quite enjoyable. He had a laboratory all to himself in which to continue his potions work, as long as he taught 4 chemistry labs a semester. He had obtained a nice flat a few miles from the university, to which he walked briskly to and from every morning and evening. In the muggle world, no one knew of his past, or his enemies, or his involvement with the Order of the Phoenix, the fall of Voldemort, or the infernal Boy-Who-Lived. Of course, once in a while a student would have a look in their eye as if they recognized him, and Snape knew there had to be at least a few Squibs or siblings of magical children who knew of him, but no one had confronted him yet, and for that he was grateful. Although cleared from all charges after the fall of the Dark Lord, Severus was more aware than anyone that he was unwelcome at Hogwarts, especially without the good word of Dumbledore to keep the parents' faith. So he had packed up, and moved on. And he found his new life quite pleasing.

"Severus, let's get the hell out of here for the evening," she swiveled in the chair behind him. "I'll help you with those samples tomorrow morning." She stood and threw the shell of the orange in the wastebasket. She wiped the blade on her jeans, and replaced the knife in her boot. She then placed a hand on his back. He was accustomed to her almost constant physical contact, so he didn't even flinch, but merely answered back,

"You know you can't help me with this particular batch. I have to finish it myself."

She sighed and briefly leaned her head against his the place between his shoulder-blades. "Fine. Finish up. I'll go have another cigarette. But then I'm coming back for you. We're going to the pub on Amherst Street, and you WILL have a drink." She walked out of the room, and headed for the parking lot. Severus rolled his eyes and continued with his potions. He knew she would get distracted, and sit outside with her cigarettes for more than 30 minutes, which gave him enough time to finish the magical part of the potion without her keen gaze upon him. He pulled out his wand and began to work.

Nozomi sank into the park bench in front of the chemistry building, and slowly rolled a cigarette. She lit it, and inhaled deeply with a sigh. She knew it was ridiculous to have a crush on her professor. She knew he would never go for her. But her outrageous self-confidence kept a bit of doubt in this previous assumption, and that was enough to convince her to keep trying. 'I know he notices me', she thought with frustration. 'I know he likes me. What the hell is his problem?' She angrily sucked on the cig. She was growing impatient with what she was sure was a forced lack of interest.

"Nozomi!" A voice rang out, and Nozomi turned her head. A shapely red-head walked towards her.

"Hello, Ginny. How's life treating you?"

"Not terrible," Ginny waved the smoke from Nozomi's cig out of her face. "I figured I might find you here. Thought I'd invite you for a drink. It's my brother's birthday, and we're having a get-together."

"Bless you, mate, but I'm trying to get the old bat out to drink with me tonight. Give me an address and I'll come by once I've given up on him." She grinned at her friend, who rolled her eyes.

"Still after your chemistry professor? Bollucks. Come with me tonight, and I'll introduce you to some lovely chaps. Our friend Lee Jordan is about your age, and he's a real laugh. Good looking, too."

Nozomi laughed. "Alright, alright. I'm about done having my heart broken anyways. Where you gonna be, love?"

"You know where my shop is, right?" Ginny asked, gesturing to a small area across from campus. Nozomi nodded. "Well, knock on the back door next to the shop. On the right side. Someone will have to let you in, of course, but it's a charming little place. We'll be there all night, I'm sure."

"Wonderful. I look forward to it." Nozomi grinned again, and waved to her friend, who smiled, and headed back across the street to her shop. Nozomi finished her cigarette, and slumped back into her bench. The sun would be setting soon, and she wanted to solidify her plans for the evening. She knew if she tried hard enough, she could get at least an hour out of Severus, which was good enough for her. After that, she would hit up the Weasley family party. She took another deep breath, pulled out a mirror to check her make-up, and headed slowly back into the building. It was time to turn on the charm.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! I really should be doing homework instead of this. Ah, well ... procrastination is WONDERFUL. Anyway, here it is. Read and Review!**

Severus finished bottling and corking his potion, and waved a wand over his desk to clean. He felt a pang of regret: although he had become accustomed to his new way of life, he did miss his old world from time to time. Not the blind hatred from the students and the disapproval and distrust from his colleagues, but just being able to wave a wand, and not worry that someone was looking through the window.

He sighed. He was expecting Nozomi to return any moment, reeking of cigarette smoke, tromping in with her huge leather boots. Honestly, he thought. Has that girl never thought to attempt to be dainty? He rolled his eyes and snorted as he thought of Nozomi wearing delicate robes and slippers, and trying to climb into her huge black jeep. He wondered why he liked her so much. It was true, she did remind him of Maya from time to time, with her tendency to toss caution to the wind. But it felt different: Severus remembered that Maya's ability to walk through a room with her head high above the crowd was born from her upbringing as a proper and wealthy pureblood witch. She was attractive and friendly and athletic, which bred an unshakeable sureness of self. In contrast, Nozomi was confrontational. While Maya had walked with her head above the crowd, Nozomi made piercing eye contact with everyone, challenging them. She was tiny, and always behaved as if she had something to prove. He remembered Maya, fearless and calculating, with a quick temper. A pureblood, of course she was a Slytherin. He then contemplated Nozomi, and with a noise that was somewhere between a chuckle and a groan, realized that she would probably have been placed in Gryffindor.

He wandered to the window, and looked out on the sunny late afternoon. He gave himself a moment to remember Hogwarts, and drifted of to a place inside the walls of the castle.

FLASHBACK

He stood in a large group of first year students at the head of the great hall. He silently thanked Merlin that his name was towards the end of the alphabet so he wouldn't have to be the first to be sorted. He stared straight ahead, not even letting his eyes wander to see the hundreds of students at the tables around him with his peripheral vision. He was terrified. Or excited. Or both. He wasn't really sure. But what Severus Snape was sure of was that he would be in Slytherin. That's where his mother had been, and that's where he belonged. He kept that thought at the front of his mind like a mantra, and watched as the crowd of first years began to thin out a bit with each sorting. Daniel Ashcrover went to Hufflepuff, as did Gigi Buss and Jaqueline Enfired. Lily Evans, Sirius Black and Yolanda Dosie went to Gryffindor. Ivan Guigosi, Kabali Faussani and Sathaye Bishnoi were new Ravenclaws, and the names he made sure to remember were those of Verona Asuda and Gia Abenfirth, the new Slytherins.

He focused on McGonigal, who was reading the names. She had just removed the sorting hat from the head of Guigosi, who hopped down to join the Ravenclaws.

"Maya Howe," she said, and Severus watched as a slender girl with blondish hair stepped up to the stool. To his wonderment, a portion of the Slytherin table began to applaud, and he fought not to turn to look. McGonigal gave a stern look. "Silence, PLEASE, Miss Howes," she shot over at the table, and the racket died down. The young girl, Maya, seemed very shy, but she managed a smile of excitement and a wave over at, who Severus now realized, must be her older sisters at the Slytherin table. The hat was placed on her head, and Severus at once felt extremely jealous. This girl had older sisters here. Sisters who, obviously, were quite fond of her. She was doubtlessly going to go to Slytherin, and probably be loved and popular at once. And he had heard the name Howe: he vaguely remembered that there was a Howe who was a famous writer, and he wondered if they were related. And then he looked closer at her very expensive-looking black school robes, and with a sinking feeling in his stomach, realized that it didn't matter, because she was wealthy all the same. He wanted to hate her immediately, but something about the way she strode up to the stool stopped him. She was nervous, that much he could tell, but she walked like she hadn't a care in the world. And he looked at her face, and her eyes and her hair, and although she was a little chubby, he felt the blossoming of a deep crush beginning to take root in his chest.

Indeed, the hat placed her in Slytherin, and she smiled brilliantly, and practically ran to the Slytherin table. Severus watched, and saw her get patted on the back and hugged by three older girls, one, who he realized was a prefect. His gaze lingered on her a little longer until he shook himself out of his daydream. Eliza Sanders's name was being called, which meant that he would be soon to follow. She too went to Slytherin, and Severus swallowed.

"Severus Snape," McGonigal called out. Severus stepped forward, and to his horror, stumbled a bit on his robes. He bit his lip in anger as he heard a few assorted snorts of laughter, but they were silenced by a look from McGonigal. He went and sat on the stool, and the hat was placed on his head. He heard it talking to him in his head as it made up its decision.

"Well, now," the hat growled. "Quite a bit of intensity here. Young man, you are simply mired in darkness. Maybe someplace like Hufflepuff could bring you back into the lighter side of life, don't you think?" Severus clenched his teeth. "No, no," mumbled the hat. "I don't think that would have any effect on you at all. Brilliant mind, though, my boy. You will be very useful some day. Alright, then, Slytherin!" the hat cried triumphantly, and was lifted from Severus's head. He let out an audible sigh of relief, and walked almost blindly toward the Slytherin table.

He shuffled toward the end to sit in the back, when a hand reached out and lightly touched his robes. He turned, and saw Maya Howe.

"Sit here," she offered, and smiled invitingly. She scooted down a bit to make room. "I'm Maya." She waved awkwardly. "These are my sisters, Athena, Meena and Aria."

"Severus," he answered stiffly as he sat. A chorus of greeting surrounded him

"These are all the new first years," Maya continued. "We thought it would be good to sit together," she smiled again.

Severus nodded. What he didn't quite understand was how this girl, who seemed so sweet and delightful, had made it into Slytherin. It didn't seem to fit. True, she was pureblood, but she seemed absolutely harmless. He watched her closely through the rest of the night, and finally saw something that made him comprehend.

"Oi," came a voice from the next table. Severus didn't expect that anyone was talking to him, so he ignored it. "OI!" it came louder, and a bread roll hit him on the back of the head, and landed in Maya's soup. They both turned around.

"Oi," said a boy from the Hufflepuff table. "Maybe you should hem up your robes, if your going to trip on them all year. Haven't had your growth spurt, yet, eh lad?" He laughed, as did his friends, and Severus blushed and turned back around.

"Excuse me," came Maya's voice next to him, to his surprise.

"What is it, me bird?" the boy answered, his voice dripping in fake sweetness.

"I believe you dropped this," and she handed him back his bread roll, now sopping wet with split pea soup. When he didn't hold out his hand to take it, she tossed it into his lap. "The next time you try to get someone's attention, possibly tapping them would work better than throwing food. You've managed to splash soup on my new robes, and I'll now have to get them professionally cleaned. I'll be bringing you the bill when it arrives."

"You think you're better than me?" the boy mocked. "Just because your father writes all them books? Well you ain't!" He and his friends looked pointedly at her.

"You cockney trash … ugh." She shuddered. "I just can't talk to you anymore. We can reconvene on this matter when you learn to speak correctly. Or else I can just wire your mouth shut until you can learn to be pleasant to everyone else." She turned up her nose to him. "Oh, and by the way, I would watch your robes, if I were you. He's not the only one who can trip," she gave a pinched smile, and turned around.

"Is that a threat?" he hissed. Maya rolled her eyes, and looked across the table at Meena, who squinted. Maya turned, discreetly held her wand, and said a spell Severus hadn't heard before. And, nothing seemed to happen. Severus looked at her, and she looked back at him and winked. The Hufflepuff boys laughed heartily at what they assumed was a failed spell, and turned back around to finish eating.

"What did you try to do?" he asked her.

"Don't worry. All their shoelaces are tied together. Just wait until they get up to leave." And she smiled.

Present Day:

"Severus, stop daydreaming!" Nozomi clomped through the doorway. "Are you ready yet?"

Snape looked away from the window. He had smelled her coming down the hall, of course, so he was prepared when she entered the room.

"Very well. But we will be walking to the pub. I refuse to ride in that horrible contraption of an automobile." He grabbed his coat off the desk, and she followed him out, close behind.

"It's just a jeep!"

"And I do NOT trust your driving. Especially in that …. Monstrosity of modern mechanical engineering."

"How about the bus, then?"

"Absolutely not."

"Severus! It's 18 bloody blocks!"

"You need the exercise to clear all the tar out of your lungs and bloodstream."

"What!"

"And you will NOT smoke on the way there. I refuse to have my air polluted."

"You're insufferable!"

Their voices echoed down the hallway, along with the heavy clumping of Nozomi's boots in perfect rhythm with the insistent clicking of Snape's footsteps.

**Thanks! R/R! PS, we go back to Maya next, and then, of course, Nozomi goes to the hang out with the Weasleys. More about what everyone has been up to is explained, and Snape finds out that Maya is still alive! Oh, I'm just quivering with excitement.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ohh ... she's in trouble now... Read and Review!**

Present Day: San Luis Obispo.

Maya walked into Starbucks with Brigid holding her hand. She was 4 1/2 years old, and could talk of nothing other than attending kindergarten the following fall.

"Mommy, can I have a cookie?" the girl pressed her nose up against the glass of the pastry display window.

"For goodness sake, Brigid, get your face off the glass. Yes, you can have a cookie, but we're saving it for after dinner." Maya smiled apologetically at the college student behind the register who was tapping his fingers, waiting for her order. Brigid made a pouty face, but made no further argument. "Sorry 'bout that. I'll have a venti chai, non-fat milk, no whipped cream and a bit of cinnamon to go please. Oh, and one of the cookies here, too, if you please."

"Name please?"

"Jasmine." After almost five years of using her middle name, she barely even tripped on her words.

They stepped to the side, and waited for their drinks. Brigid climbed into one of the tall stools to watch as the cappuccino machine hissed and sputtered. Maya gazed at her with pride. Brigid was an Armenian refugee orphan that Maya had adopted at 1 year old. Her features were petite, and her hair was dark and curly. She was tan, from spending long hours out on the beach and the deck with her mother, swimming and building sand castles, hitting a beach ball and picnic lunches. All in all, Maya was pleased that Brigid seemed to be a happy, well-adjusted child.

They received their order, and headed back to the car.

"I have to stop by the office really fast, is that alright?" she asked her daughter.

"Ok," Brigid said contentedly. And they sped off toward downtown.

Brigid hopped up the stairs to her mother's office, and immediately went to press her nose up to the fish tank to catch a glimpse of the pet eel.

"Don't knock the tank over," Maya warned as she grabbed a ped and notepad, and hit the message button on the answering machine.

"I won't!" Brigid called back.

The message machine sprang to life.

"You have 6 unheard messages. First message:"

"Jasmine, it's Linda. Just calling to say that I won't be in tomorrow-"

Maya skipped that message. Her secretary was ALWAYS calling in sick.

"Ms. Von Tost, this is Karen from Wells Fargo-" Skip.

"Hi, this is Terry Mendlebright – my wife and I were interested in-" Skip. Terry called at least twice a day.

"This is a message for Maya Howe from the offices of Dean, Pallaird and Sherry. This is Kevin Landers, I represent Trevor Wraid - If you could give me a call back as soon as possible, there's a bit of a situation that has arisen that we may need your help on. The number here is 818-624-7942, and I'm at extension 67. Thank you!"

Maya paused for a moment. She hadn't been expecting that. She wondered what Trevor's attorney could possibly want with her, or even how he had found her. She had started going by her middle name and her mother's family name quite a few years ago, and something seemed suspicious. She glanced at the clock. 4:12 was still early enough to call an attorney back, she reasoned.

She dialed, and a sugary voice answered. "Thank you for calling Dean, Pallaird and Sherry, how can I help you today?"

"Um, yes, can I have Kevin Landers at extension 67 please?"

"I'll connect you right away." There was a series of beeping, and then the same voice that had been on the message picked up the phone.

"This is Kevin Landers."

"Mr. Landers? This is Maya Howe."

There was a pause, and then he seemed to connect the name to his purpose. "Ms. Howe! Thank you for calling me back. Let me get straight to the point. I represent Trevor Wraid. I believe you know him?"

"Well, we were married over twenty years ago, if that's what you mean."

"Yes, well, then let me explain his current situation to you. I'm not sure if you are aware, but a few years ago, Trevor was romantically involved with a young tennis player names Olga Klanova."

"So I heard," Maya answered darkly.

"Well, as you also probably are aware, Ms. Klanova went missing while still involved with Trevor. The investigation has taken quite a while, but unfortunately, the police managed to build a case against my client."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Well, there was a surprising lack of evidence, including the lack of a physical body. But, he was the last person she was seen with … so …."

"Wait, are you saying that after five years Trevor is being tried for murder?"

"Correct, Ms. Howe. And I would like you to testify in court."

"Testify to what, exactly?"

"Well, my client is under the impression that you will be able to clear his name somehow. I'd like to set up a meeting to-"

"I can't do that!" Maya almost burst out. "I don't know what he's talking about!"

"Ms. Howe, please do not make me subpoena your testimony in court. We would just like to talk to you. We can meet whenever is convenient for you."

"But I have nothing to say!" She was feeling angry and helpless at the same time. What could she possibly say about the disappearance of Olga Klanova? That a horcrux ring with her soul trapped in it, which was originally meant to revive her dead body, accidentally got put on the young tennis player instead? She could see that going over like a lead balloon. 'Yes, your honor. I AM Olga Klanova. I've just been transformed into Maya Howe by a particularly strong form of magic…'

"Ms. Howe, this is of utmost importance." The attorney sounded as though he was losing his patience with her.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine," she whispered. "How does tomorrow morning at ten work for you?"

**Coming up next**:** Nozomi and Severus go to the pub, Nozomi chills with the Weasleys, Maya goes to court and her cover is blown. Read and Review! I love reviews! Thanks to Summerluck and AdmiralJackal - you guys are awesome.**

**-p2**


	6. Chapter 6

**New chapter. Read and Review. I don't own any of it, except Maya and her buddies. Etc. You know the drill.**

FLASHBACK:

"Ugh! Why do I have to take this CLASS! Can't I just take the final exam? This is ridiculous!" Maya and her friend Heather Mahi trudged through the halls of Hogwarts on their way to Muggle Studies. "I just spent all summer with muggles! ALL SUMMER!"

Heather seemed uninterested. "It's not as if we pay any attention anyway. Stop whining."

"But the topics are so ridiculous!"

"Stop saying the work 'ridiculous'," Heather snapped. "I have to be there too, you know."

Maya sighed heavily and dejectedly. "Sorry," she mumbled. They came to a stop outside the classroom. Maya looked at the door, and then looked at her friend. "Let's not go," she pleaded.

"We have to go," Heather intoned, not looking at all sure that she believed herself.

"No we don't! It's Thursday! Let's go sit out by the lake!"

Heather sighed. "Maya-"

"It's a lovely day, Heather …. First day in a week that's not raining. Wouldn't you rather be running? Come on, I'll keep time for you." She smiled.

"You had to play the weather card, didn't you?" Heather asked, shaking her head. "Fine …. I'm going to change into running shorts. I'll meet you on at the lake in fifteen minutes." Heather turned on her heel and jogged off toward the dungeons.

Maya grinned, and then quickly dove into the empty classroom next door when she noticed the muggle studies professor walking down the hall, juggling coffee mug and papers. She waited a moment, and then peered cautiously out the door. The hallway was empty.

"Perfect," she mumbled to herself, and began a fast walk down the hall. She turned a corner – and ran directly into Severus.

"Oof! Sev! Sorry about that."

"Maya, you're walking in the wrong direction," he growled.

"It's Thursday, Sev. Practically the weekend! Wouldn't you rather be outside, than listening to the long-winded story of the battle of Hastings?" she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"No," Severus stated.

"Come on, Sev, it'll be fun. You need to be socialized a bit." She grabbed his arm and spun him around, but he broke free.

"No, Maya. I am going to class. You would be wise to do the same."

"Severus Snape. Since when are you so inclined to follow rules?"

"Since never," he snarled. "But I'm not so inclined to follow you, either."

"Why?" she asked, genuinely confused by this.

"You were right! People think I'm your sidekick! I'm not anyone's sidekick!" He pushed past her fiercely.

"Severus! Stop!" She jogged up to him. He stopped and turned.

"Now I'm going to be late."

"Was Meena making sport at you, saying that you follow me about?"

Severus just raised an eyebrow. Maya continued.

"Ignore her! You know how she is. She's got her head in a twist over her newest love interest who doesn't seem to know she exists." Severus still looked unconvinced. "Please?" She took his hand in hers, and laced their fingers together. "I'm going to sit out by the lake. We'll steal some food from the kitchen and make a picnic."

"Maya, just because you can manipulate everyone else to get your way doesn't mean it'll work with me," he accused.

"I know that, Sev. You're much cleverer than everyone else."

"Well, yes, I suppose, but – you're doing it again. Pacifying me with flattery. It won't work."

"Then why are you walking towards the lake with me?" She squeezed his hand affectionately.

"Free will," he grumbled, and looked at the floor.

Heather was jogging peacefully around the lake in seemingly endless circles. Every time she passed Maya and Severus, Maya would yell out a time, and she would forge ahead. She was trying to make five miles in 35 minutes, and so far, she was on track. As she ran, she contemplated. She didn't understand what Maya saw in Severus: he was a surly, socially repugnant boy who was a little scary sometimes, and embarrassing the rest of the time. She rolled her eyes, and hit a fresh burst of speed.

Maya and Severus lay on the blanket of rolling grass in the sun, eating a bushel of grapes and honeydew melon. Severus draped his hair of his face to avoid sunburn, but Maya had, as usual, removed her robes and spread them out, and was laying on her stomach across them.

"Why can't you wear the school uniform properly?" Severus asked her, eyeing her outfit.

"I do wear it," she responded. "See?" she motioned to her pleated skirt.

"What's THAT, then?" he gingerly fingered a ruffle of stiff, pink chiffon that peeked out under the skirt's hem.

"A bit of color to this lifeless, drab …. THING that they make us wear." She answered cheekily. "Besides, it matches my shirt." She had unbuttoned her blouse to reveal a matching pink form-fitting tee-shirt underneath. She stretched out under the sun.

"Didn't you just finish a week's worth of detention for wearing pink shoes?"

"It was my birthday, and I wanted to wear my new shoes. This school has too many ruled about stupid things," she growled.

"Time!" yelled a breathless Heather, who was approaching on the trail a few feet away.

"12 minutes 28 seconds!" Maya yelled back, sitting up and glancing at her watch. Heather nodded and ran off again. Maya began to giggle. "You know, if she would stop running so much, she wouldn't be so damnably scrawny," She turned and lay back down, resting her head in Severus's lap. Severus sat perfectly still, trying not to stare as Maya's chest rose and fell with breath.

"What's wrong with being scrawny?" he finally asked, a bit defensively.

"Severus, you're not scrawny! You're just …. Underdeveloped."

"Excuse me?"

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Give it a few years, and you'll be breaking more hearts than Sirius Black." Maya twisted her head up to smile at his crookedly, upside-down in his lap. Severus looked at her and gritted his teeth. He didn't know if she was oblivious to the effect she was having on him, writhing around in his lap, or if she was doing it on purpose. He decided not to ask.

"I doubt that," he muttered.

She reached up and placed some of his hair behind his ear, which he immediately shook forward, back into his face.

"Why do you do that?" she asked. "Enjoy the sun!"

"I can't enjoy the sun the way you do. I'll get burnt. Not all of us tan so gracefully as the Howe sisters." She smiled, and settled back into his lap. He waited a few moments, and then had a sudden burst of courage, and placed a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't protest, he placed the other hand in her hair. She still said nothing, so he remained there, content, feeling her breath through her body.

"Time!" Yelled Heather as she rounded the bend. "TIME! Maya, TIME!"

Maya still said nothing, and Severus looked down at his companion. She was sleeping peacefully in his lap.

PRESENT DAY:

Maya stared at a painting of a lake over the secretary's desk. Her memories of Severus and Hogwarts were almost all pleasant – a happy respite from her current unpleasant errand. She was sitting in the office of Mr. Landers, ready to explain herself out of a trial date. How she was going to do it she wasn't sure – she couldn't obliviate him, could she? Then he really wouldn't be able to clear Trevor from a murder charge, and she would feel a bit guilty about that. Trevor deserved what he got, of course, but jail for murder? Really, if anything, SHE was the killer. She silently wondered if there was a way to transfer herself into a different body so Olga Klanova could have hers back.

'And let Trevor have his woman back?' a voice in her head said. She grimaced. He didn't deserve THAT good treatment either. Ah well …. There would be a way out of this yet. She just needed to think.

"Miss Howe? Mr. Landers is ready for you."

Maya gulped, and headed toward the attorney's door. She would bide her time here, and then go home and figure this problem out. If she didn't, she feared that she might be the next one tried for murder.

**Coming up next: back to Nozomi and Snape at the pub. Then to the Weasley's party. I think. No, yeah ... pretty sure. Read and Review! Tell your friends! Woohoo!**


	7. Chapter 7

Snape cut through the Spring evening with purposeful steps. His boots clipped harshly against the concrete, and his black attire stood out austere against the colorfully clad university students. Nozomi walked next to him, her head bobbing near his shoulder.

"Hey, I think tonight is Salsa night. Care to dance?" She asked, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Absolutely not," he countered. "As you recall, I do not wish to be at the pub at all."

"Then why are you going?"

"My work needs a day to sit before I can attend to it again."

Nozomi let out a clipped laugh. "Admit it, Severus …. You LIKE me!"

He sped up his steps, and she hopped quickly to keep up with him. He rolled his eyes a bit. "That may be true, but it has nothing to do with my presence with you tonight."

They reached the pub, and ducked inside. Nozomi linked her arm through Snape's, and led him to a table.

"Whiskey?" she asked. He nodded, and leaned his elbows on the table.

When she returned with the bottle, he raised a practiced eyebrow.

"You can not inebriate me into dancing with you."

"Can I guilt you?"

"No."

"Cajole you?"

"No."

"Force you?"

"No … Sit down!" He commanded, and grabbed the bottle from her. He poured them each a glass, and waited impatiently for her to settle into her chair.

"Alright, alright. You'll just have to watch me dance with some other bloke then." She winked.

"You seem to think that would have some sort of effect on me." He knew he was being cruel. He didn't care. He enjoyed seeing her a little uncomfortable: she was too bold for his taste, especially in her never ending assumption that he found her irresistible. He felt a pang of smugness at her loud sigh.

"Well, cheers then," she pouted, and down her drink. Snape followed suit. They sat in silence, and drank for a solid period of time before a large plate of fish and chips arrived at the table.

"What is this?" Snape growled.

"I was hungry," Nozomi bit back, and violently shoved a piece of fish into her mouth. Her fair, Asian skin was turning a reddish hue, and Snape knew she was getting drunk. He pulled the bottle away from her reach: the last thing he wanted was to have to carry her home.

She put her hand across the table, covering his hand with her own. He didn't pull away, but allowed her the small bit of physical touch.

He sighed. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

"What?"

"Chasing me like some ridiculous schoolgirl. I've told you time and again that I'm not interested."

"Then why do you pretend like you are?"

"I hardly know what you're talking about," he gruffed, and pulled his hand away. He met her gaze. She looked desperately sad, but her eyes had a bit of non-comprehension and pity as well. They both knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Did you always treat your women like this?" she asked, her voice gaining a screechy quality to it.

"What women?" he growled back.

"Don't lie to me," she grabbed the bottle back from him. "I've seen your little magic eight ball … Who was she?" She opened her eyes completely, and stared at him. He looked up at her in surprise. What was she talking about? She couldn't have seen his memory orb … that was a magical object …. How would he explain that?

"What are you talking about?"

"You're green … picture ball … thingy!" She tripped over her words, and waved her hands around. "I don't know what it is. But I saw you and some …. blonde girl in it. Really, Severus. A blonde? How …. Typical …." She lapsed into a deep pout, and swirled her almost empty glass around with her hand.

Snape sat in silence for a bit, staring at Nozomi, debating what the best course of action would be. He could tell her about Maya, but he really didn't want to get into that. It was impossible to explain anything in his past to her without revealing the whole of the magical world, and that was too much of a headache for him to even ponder.

"WELL?" she demanded, bringing him out of his mental battle. "You going to tell me about her or WHAT?"

"Nozomi, I certainly will not tell you about anything that went on before you met me. It is in the past, and …. Haven't I explained this to you before?"

"You don't want to talk about your big, horrible past life to me … yeah, yeah, yeah. Look. It couldn't have been all that bad." She swallowed noticeably. "You looked happy in those pictures! You were smiling!"

"I was not," he argued.

"Well, as close to a smile as I've ever seen. You don't have to tell me about everything else, I just want to know about the GIRL."

"Why?" he asked, sincerity creeping into his voice.

She was silent for a moment, and then hiccupped. "I just want to understand," she began softly. "I just want to understand why you don't love me."

Snape leaned back in his chair. "You're much too young for me, Nozomi. I'm practically middle-aged."

"I don't care," she snapped stubbornly.

"You would care in ten years when I'm fifty, and you're, well, not even close."

"No, I wouldn't! Don't assume things you don't know anything about."

She was starting to get loud, and he changed the subject abruptly. "How does an explanation of the woman you saw in the orb explain anything about me not loving you?" He asked pointedly. He folded his arms tightly, and glared at her.

"You loved her," she half accused, half pleaded. "Why? Why did you love her and not me? What is it about her? I just want to understand." She sighed in defeat, and leaned her head on her shoulder. Her eyes were starting to droop from the alcohol, and Snape had a moment of panic when he suddenly realized that she might start crying in this public forum.

"Her name was Maya Howe," he began quickly, and her eyes snapped open, and rolled slowly to meet his gaze. "And you can stop being jealous, because she's-" he composed himself, "She's dead."

He sat, holding tightly to his whiskey glass. Memories of Maya came rolling back to him like waves on a dry beach. He cleared his throat. Nozomi looked awkward and uncomfortable, but wouldn't avert her eyes. She sat, silently, and waited for the explanation she knew would come.

"We went to school together," he began slowly. "And we were friends. And then we became more than friends, and I thought everything was …. " He gazed off into the distance. "We went our separate ways, and I didn't see her for years. I ran into her again about five years ago. And then as soon as she was back in my life, she was gone again."

"How did she die?" Nozomi asked quietly.

"Murdered." He said shortly. "By her sister." He knew it wasn't really true, but he had never really forgiven Meena for the roll she had played in Maya's demise.

"Severus, I'm … I'm sorry. That's quite terrible, really," she said lamely. "But I'm assuming there were happy memories?"

"Yes, quite a few," he looked back to his young companion. "I almost married her, you know," he smirked into his glass. "What a disaster that would have been."

"What happened?"

"She moved to the United States, and I became … I became something that I'd rather not discuss, thank you." His voice became curt, and he folded his arms again. Nozomi wasn't convinced. He was shaken, and she could tell.

"Tell me about her," she pushed.

Snape sighed. He didn't want to, but really, what was the harm? It had been five years, and he was well over being upset about the whole affair. Then again, who was he kidding? He held grudges forever. Look at the poor Potter boy, he chided himself. You never let that go, and you'll never let this go either. He paused, and had an interesting thought. Maybe I should let this go … let her go. She's gone, after all.

And he looked up at Nozomi, and began to speak.

"She was wealthy: from an excellent family. I was always quite jealous of that."

"She was very pretty," Nozomi offered, and Snape nodded.

"Not really my type, to be honest with you. But something about her made me take notice. She was a very average type of beauty – nothing too striking or exotic, but she had a presence that simply commanded the attention of entire rooms."

"Graceful," Nozomi added.

"Yes, graceful. Confident. Regal." His anger had melted away, and he began to notice the effect of the whiskey. His words began to slur slightly, and he was relaxed.

"She must have been very clever," Nozomi prompted.

"No," Snape gave a wistful smile. "Not really. In fact, she was very frustrating in her complete lack of interest in academics. She also unfortunately had an insufferable interest in Quidditch." He stopped suddenly, and looked up at Nozomi, who, luckily hadn't noticed his slip-up at the mention of Quidditch.

They lapsed into slience for the next few moments.

"I wish I could play Quidditch," Nozomi said suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Did you say something about Quidditch?" Snape was intruiged.

"No. Well, yes. Sorry. I have friends who love to play Quidditch. They're always going on about it."

"You have friends who play Quidditch?" He asked searchingly.

"Yeah – well, I've never SEEN them play, mind you. They've only explained it to me briefly, you know."

"What did they say?"

"That it's a bit like football, but with more balls, and such." She sighed. "I'm sorry I made you talk about Maya, Severus."

Snape nodded. He stood, and offered Nozomi a hand. She took it, and he pulled her up. He put his hand on the small of her back and led her out of the pub. They walked through the night back towards the University. They came to a stop in front of Nozomi's car.

"Are you able to drive home?" Snape asked her.

"Aw, don't worry about that. I'm actually going across the street to a mate of mine's place. Her brother's are having a party. So I'll be with her." She smiled at him.

"Very well. In that case, enjoy your evening, and I shall see you on Monday." He began to turn, and then looked down into her face. She smiled slightly. "Goodnight, Nozomi," he said softly, and leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips. When he opened his eyes to look at her, she was smiling gleefully.

"Goodnight, Severus," she murmured, and leaned against the door of her car. He smiled to himself, and began his walk home in the spring night.

R/R, please! THanks!


	8. Chapter 8

Nozomi, still quite buzzed from her pub night with her professor, walked a bit crookedly down the street to Ginny's shop. She had been in there a number of times, and could find it in her sleep, but fighting through the ivy and bushes to get to the back gate was an experience she would have preferred to have done sober. Finally she stopped looking where she was walking, and trampled the defenseless shrubbery under her boots, muttering to herself about proper hedge-care. She reached the gate, and knocked loudly. No one came to fetch her, and she swore angrily. She reached up to grab the latch to let herself in, and felt the strangest whirling sensation. She wasn't drunk enough to have passed out, so she was quite confused and only vaguely aware of the feeling of being propelled through the air. She hit the ground hard, and immediately registered the sound of voices and laughter.

"Here's another one, Gin! One of yours, I'd wager?" came a voice, followed by laughter.

"Oh Heavens! Pick that poor girl off the ground, George!" A frumpy redheaded woman was bustling towards her.

"No, no, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I must have fallen…" Nozomi stood up slowly.

"Nozomi! Welcome!" Came a familiar voice. Ginny jogged towards her and linked arms with her. "Sorry about the portkey. Probably should have told you about that."

"Yes, you probably should have. Not that I would have been any more prepared, mind you," Nozomi muttered.

"Never taken a portkey?" The one known as George piped in.

Nozomi shook her head slowly, still adjusting to her new surroundings, which appeared to be the front yard of a large, crooked house. There were lights on poles and people milling about everywhere.

"She's a muggle," Ginny explained.

"A muggle! Good Heavens!" The frumpy woman said again, this time a bit horrified.

"Yes, mother, a muggle! But she's my friend, so she's perfectly welcome here!"

"Well of course she is, Ginny dear," the woman went on a bit breathlessly. "I'm just surprised, is all."

"A cousin of mine went to Wizarding school in Japan … can't remember what it was called, of course …. And he's the only one of us in the whole family. But the concept of your culture isn't entirely foreign to me." Nozomi explained to the confused Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, dear, of course! Well, Maybe you'd like to speak to the Grangers. They're muggles too, you know. I'll call them over!" Mrs. Weasley turned and headed off to the opposite end of the yard.

"Sorry about that," George said. "Mum's a little nervous about muggles, you understand."

"Yeah, no harm done." Agreed a man who looked exactly like George, and Nozomi thought she was seeing double.

"Nozomi, this is Fred and George." Ginny pointed them out, and each gave a little bow.

"The guests of honor, I'll have you know." Fred joked.

"Yeah. Couldn't have a party without us anyway, though, could they?" George answered back.

"Not a chance," they said in unison, and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's get you some butterbeer," she said, and led Nozomi away.

"Oh, no, I'm just coming down off my buzz, thank you." She shook her head. "Got the old bat to go drinking with me afterall."

"Good for you!" Ginny exclaimed. "How was it?"

"Well, a little awkward – we discussed some old flame of his."

"With you sitting right there? What's wrong with him?"

"He claims I'm too young for him," she said thoughtfully. "But, he did kiss me, which was, well, wonderful." Nozomi got a dreamy look on her face, and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"When do I get to meet this old bat?"

Nozomi sighed. "Never. Not until I can seal the deal."

"But you already slept with him, I thought."

Nozomi laughed. "Yes, but he still claims we don't have a relationship."

"Ugh. Men." Ginny laughed.

"What about men?" Came a voice from behind them, and they both turned. Nozomi took in the man in front of her, tall, lanky, with dark hair and glasses over attractive green eyes. "Certainly we can't all be that bad," he joked.

"Yes, you are! All of you!" Ginny laughed. "Nozomi, this is Harry. Harry, Nozomi."

"Nice to meet you," Nozomi held out her hand, and Harry shook it heartily.

"You as well. I hope you won't take your distaste for men out on me," he smiled.

"No, just having a hard time with a gentleman I know, is all." Nozomi smiled.

"Ahh, Of course. He married?" he asked knowingly.

"I don't think he's ever been married, actually. He almost got married once, apparently. But no, not married. Just difficult, I suppose."

"Those are the worst kind," Harry continued. "I sympathize. But, if you'll excuse me, my very pregnant wife is wondering why I'm talking to an attractive young woman by the appetizer table, so I must be off. Very nice to meet you though." Harry smiled and headed off, taking a small plate of food through the crowd.

"He seems nice," Nozomi commented.

"Oh yeah," Ginny agreed. "Harry's a great bloke. But come on, I've got a ton of people you'll just love!" And they wandered over to another group of people.

"This is Ron," she pointed.

"Another brother, I'm assuming," Nozomi smiled.

"Too right you are," he nodded. "This is Hermione," he motioned to the woman next to him.

"Charmed," Hermione said cheerily.

"Likewise," Nozomi returned.

"And this is Remus. Remus, Ron, Hermione, this is my good friend Nozomi. She's a potions student at the university," Ginny said.

"Potions, eh?" Remus asked. "You seem a head more charming than most potions masters we know," he added with a chuckle. This must have been an inside joke, because the four of them laughed heartily, leaving Nozomi a bit confused.

"Sorry, mate. We used to know a potionsmaster who was none too cheery." Ginny explained.

"Bit of a git, actually," Ron chimed in, and was smacked by Hermione.

"Well, actually, I'm not studying potions, I'm studying chemistry. But I suppose the concept is the same, really." She shrugged.

"Well, I like you all the better then," said Ron jovially. "No potions are good potions if you ask me." And he help up his glass for a toast. Ginny clinked glasses with him, Hermione rolled her eyes, and Remus chuckled slightly to himself.

"I'm confused … care to let an old muggle in on the joke?" Nozomi looked around.

"Well, the potionsmaster at Hogwarts-" Hermino began importantly

"-Which is where we all went to school," Remus added,

"Was a bit …. Difficult to deal with," Hermione finished.

"For a while, he had a very pretty girlfriend. Don't know what she saw in him," Ron looked confused.

Nozomi rolled her eyes. "I'm dealing with one of those at the moment as well," she huffed. "Right difficult old bat, he is."

"One of your professors?" Hermione asked sympathetically.

"Well, technically, yes, I suppose. But really, I work for him in his laboratory. I'm just so ridiculously in love with the old fool, and he's simply not interested in me."

"Tough break, that is. What's the matter with him?" Ron shook his head.

"Dunno, really. He's a bit gruff and all, but I think he never got over his old flame." She clucked.

"Well, true love never dies, I suppose." Remus said philosophically. "Not to cheapen your plight, of course," he added.

"Yeah, well. I suppose one day I'll just get tired of him jerking me around, if you know what I mean."

"There you go mate. No man is worth all that," Ron said heartily.

"And you're very pretty, you know. I'm sure you'll find a ton of men who'd love to take you out," Hermione added.

Nozomi sighed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, anyway," she said. "I just had this picture in my head that everything would work out, and we'd have wonderful chemistry projects and little dark haired British children together. Is that ridiculous?"

"Aww – I can't listen to this anymore!" Ginny said. "Too depressing! Who is he? I want to find this bloke and slap some sense into him!"

"Cheers to that," said Ron, and began to gulp down his drink.

"I'm sure you've seen him around campus," Nozomi began. "Tall, imposing gent. Always wears black. Name's Severus Snape."

And at that, Ron choked on his drink.

**READ AND REVIEW! I'm in the middle of finals, and depressed, so write me reviews and make me happy!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I love my reviewers! You guys are fabulous, and completley make my day. Keep it up!**

Hermione gasped, and then, after noticing Ron was choking, gave an exasperated, "Ronald!", and hit him on the back. Remus merely looked into his drink, trying like hell to avoid smiling, and Ginny's eyes went wide.

"Uh oh," Nozomi said slowly. "I take it you all know him, then?"

"He's the potionsmaster that was always a git!" Ron sputtered. "And you … you LIKE him?" He looked absolutely incredulous.

"Ron, you're being an absolute ASS." Hermione gave him a look.

"Hermione, the poor girl is in love with SNAPE. Can you even imagine?"

"Well, no, but to each his own, Ronald, and clearly she sees something in him that you don't, so stop making this the end of the world!" And with that, she turned to Nozomi. "Sorry 'bout that. Ron's still catching up to the rest of us with his etiquette skills."

"He can't have been all that bad, now, can he?" Nozomi asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

"Well, let's see," began Ron again. "He was bloody AWFUL to Harry, just because he didn't like his father. He always had a terrible disposition, he called Hermione an insufferable know-it-all, AND he was a deatheater!"

"He was a what?" Nozomi looked completely confused at this point.

"Now Ron, I'm sure if Severus wanted Nozomi to know about his past, he would have made her privy to the information himself." Remus said gently.

"No, you don't. You all know, and I want to as well!" She looked wildly at Ron, who gave her a quick and dirty account of Voldemort, the Deatheaters, Hogwarts, and Severus Snape as they all knew him.

"Who is Maya Howe?" she asked finally.

"SShhh!" They all shushed her, and looked around furtively.

"What?"

"Her sister Athena is around here somewhere. Get's terribly upset to think about her sisters, you understand." Ginny said in a hushed voice.

"No, I don't understand. Tell me!" Nozomi whispered fiercly.

"Maya was Snape's girl when they were in school," Remus said calmly. "She moved to California after graduation, and Snape became a deatheater, and they met up again by chance many years later due to some unforeseen circumstances that rekindled their relationship a bit. But then Maya was killed by Voldemort, and Snape was quite devastated."

"He told me she was murdered by her sister," Nozomi explained.

"Well, I guess that's sort of true," Ron reasoned. "I mean, Meena set the whole thing up to begin with, didn't she?"

Nozomi again looked confused.

"Bah," Ron threw away. "Doesn't much matter. How did YOU meet him?"

The group turned with rapt attention to Nozomi, who began to recount her tale.

FLASHBACK:

Graduation day was upon them, and Nozomi, while only a first-year graduate student, was excited to be attending the ceremony to watch several of her close friends earn their higher degrees, and several of her students earn their bachelor degrees. She was also excited for a very selfish reason: she was going to see professor Snape. Snape was a new professor in Nozomi's last semester as an undergrad, and she had been smitten by his dark, foreboding manner in the classroom from the first day. But, being a student, she had settled for long, pitiful gazes and then forgotten about her crush after the final. Until that morning. Almost exactly a year later, Nozomi had wandered through the book store to pick up a text she had put on order for the summer studying, and had run into … quite literally … her old professor. They had shared awkward pleasantries, and he had asked if she would be attending graduation that evening. While she hadn't really been planning on it, something in her made her say that of course she would be there. They said their goodbyes, and Nozomi had sauntered out of the bookstore, completely forgetting to pick up the book she had meant to get. She went home, did her hair, and took special care with her outfit. Of course, most of her clothes were black as well, but she decided to add a dark brown hat to the ensemble. She even traded in her usual clunky black boots for a more delicate pair of clunky black leather shoes.

She went to graduation, and chatted with people here and there, all the while looking out for the tall sinister man she intended to flirt with viciously. Finally, she saw him, standing alone, arms folded. She walked up to him, and he didn't seem to even notice her until she lightly placed a hand on his arm.

"Professor?"

"Ahh, Ms. Osuda. How have you been?"

"Since this morning? Not bad, not bad at all." She smiled as flirtatiously as she could manage, although, not being well-practiced in the art of seduction, she was sure it turned out to be more of a leer than anything. She was a chemistry student, after all. A chemistry student who drove a huge black jeep, lurked around cemeteries for interesting photograph opportunities of stone art on the tombstones, and drank more heavily than she really should as a rather petite Japanese woman. Not really the social butterfly of sorority proportions.

Snape smirked. "Yes, we have seen quite a lot of each other today. Lucky for you I don't find you as obnoxiously repulsive as I do most of my students," he snorted and looked across the sea of smiling graduates with distaste.

"I'll take that as a compliment, then," she rolled her eyes. "But honestly, I'm not your student anymore."

"I suppose you'll expect that we begin to refer to each other on a first name basis now that we're … colleagues," he simply dripped with sarcasm.

"I would prefer that you call me Nozomi, yes," she began dryly. "And I do believe I'll start calling you by your first name, simply because I think it would annoy you a great deal," she smirked.

"It would," he agreed. "Fortunately, you do not know my first name."

"Your right," she said thoughtfully. "And I don't suppose you'll offer the information willingly?"

"Severus," he said gruffly.

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "It suits you," she said finally, and held out her hand. "Charmed, Severus."

He looked at it for a second, and then lifted it gently and kissed it lightly. He nodded at her. "Nozomi," he finally said darkly.

They regarded each other for a moment before looking back over the crowd of people.

"What does it mean, might I ask?" he said to no one in particular, but Nozomi assumed she was talking to her.

"What?"

"Your name," he said impatiently.

"Nozomi?"

He nodded.

She smiled to herself and closed her eyes. "It means 'hope'."

Present Day:

"I began to visit him in his lab once a week during the summer, to ask his opinion on my projects, or theories, and such. After the first month I started to bring us lunch, and we would talk, and eat. Finally, towards the end of the summer holidays, he asked if I would like to assist him in his undergraduate classrooms, which of course, was exactly what I had been playing at," she smiled at the rapt attention of Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Remus.

"He seems almost …. Personable," Ginny said, with a bit of disgust in her voice. "How is that possible?" Ron shook his head in disbelief.

"We've always gotten on well," Nozomi continued. "Until things got a bit wonky after, you know, we got a bit more involved."

"Involved?" Remus asked.

"Oh, dear me," Ginny said loudly. "It had no opinion of you sleeping with unknown gentleman we referred to as 'the old bat', but I just realized that means you actually went to bed with Snape." She seemed to have gotten a bad taste in her mouth, and she closed her eyes and shook her head violently.

"I will never understand women," Ron said, staring into his drink.

"Ginny, you should come to lunch with us some time," Nozomi said with a laugh.

"Oh no you don't," she said emphatically. "I'm avoiding that campus like the plague, now that I know he works there. And believe me, if he knew you were friends with a Weasley, he'd probably die of shock."

"Oh, I can't wait to tell him," Nozomi laughed evilly. Her evening had suddenly gotten infinitely better.

**Poor Sev. Everyone knows more than he does. Nozomi is friends with the Weasleys, Maya's not really dead ... poor guys going to have a heart attack from all this shock. Ah, well ... Coming up next: we find out what Sev really thinks of Nozomi, Maya prepares for her court date, and then the trial begins! Tell me what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10! Wow, I should write my paper instead of this ... ah, well. I don't own it. Enjoy!**

Snape walked home, hands deep in his pockets, enjoying the night air. When he returned to his small flat, he didn't go inside, but instead sat out on his chair on the small porch. He was almost completely concealed by trees and foliage, so he could watch undetected as people slowly walked by him, hand in hand, or out with their dogs. He sighed heavily. He hated to admit it to himself, but he missed Maya. He missed her more now than he had when they had parted ways as children. She made him smile, she made him laugh. Even when he really didn't want to, which was most of the time. Nozomi was fun, but Maya was what he really wanted, and he was having trouble forcing himself to realize that she was really gone, even after five years.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, thinking of Nozomi now. He knew he was dragging her along, allowing her to love him blindly while he had no intention of returning the emotion. Something about having that power over such a young, attractive girl made him forget his loneliness. He couldn't find the ability to love her because he couldn't stop loving Maya, but at the same time he was desperate to keep her around. In a strange environment, different from the one he had lived for close to forty years, he was ashamed to admit that he was almost afraid to return to his usual state of being miserable and alone.

FLASHBACK:

He looked across the lab table at her. She took off her goggles, and shook out her hair.

"Care to tell me what on Earth is so distracting that you completely lost track of time for this experiment?" He asked her crossly.

"You smell different," she said with a smile.

"Excuse me?"

"You smell … different. Good, but different." She shrugged and walked around the table, tossing off her goggles and gloves, and leaning against the table next to him.

"Why do I allow you to help me?"

"Because you like me," she answered his rhetorical question, mostly to get on his nerves.

"I most certainly do not."

"Yes you do, and I can prove it," she said cheekily.

Snape folded his arms in front of him, and glared down at her.

"You can prove that I do in fact like YOU, the most distractible, incompetent student I have ever known?"

And she smiled, and leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips. He was aghast, and almost too surprised to move. She leaned back, looked into his eyes, and smiled mischievously. She leaned in and kissed him again, this time nibbling slightly on his lower lip.

He took her by the shoulders, and held her at arms length.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

"Kissing you, you daft fool."

"How should that prove anything?"

"You didn't stop me," sheleered back.

"I'm stopping you now," he pointed out.

"No you're not," she argued, and leaned up to him again for a bolder, deeper kiss. Why Snape kissed her back, he didn't know. But she looked good, she smelled good – kissing her was not the most horrible thing in the world. In fact, he was enjoying himself thoroughly. But, as they began to kiss more passionately,Snape had a sudden vision of the near future, and immediately drew back. As he had assumed, Nozomi had worked open the first few buttons of his shirt, and was busily trying to disrobe him.

"Nozomi, stop!" he shook her.

"What? Why?"

"I'm your professor. I am not your paramour, your lover, or, god forbid, your boyfriend."

"I know," she swallowed, trying very hard to sound as if she was perfectly alright with that.

"If we sleep together, you'll doubtlessly come to the misguided conclusion that our relationship is more personal than it can ever be," he continued, beginning to button his garments.

"No, I won't. You've made it very clear what we are," she argued, putting her hands on her hips.

"I can't be responsible for your foolish emotions getting in the way of my work," he snapped, grabbing a coat from the chair behind him.

"Severus, just because I love you doesn't mean I expect you to love me back! Goddammit!" She was angry, and she swiveled on her heel to face away from him. "I'm perfectly aware that you're not interested in me. I know that at best, you find me mildly entertaining. Don't think you've gone soft," she challenged him. He didn't want to feel bad, and honestly, he didn't, but something about her honesty was alluring, and something about her vulnerability was enticing. He knew it was a bad idea, but he took her by the shoulder and drew her to him ….

Present Day

Snape pulled himself out of that recollection. He couldn't decide if sleeping with Nozomi had been a good idea or a bad idea, but he was a little ashamed of his motives, and didn't wish to wander down the path of that memory. They both seemed to enjoy the sex, but it made her more and more attached to him. He liked being the object of undying affection, but more often than not it was simply annoying to know that with one wrong move, one too many snide comments, he would send her into an emotional rage, or worse, some sort of love-lost depression. He did NOT want to deal with that. He conjured a glass of firewhiskey, and drank heavily. He was faintly aware of the scents from the wild flowers of his yard, and he was taken away again to a much more bittersweet, more tolerable memory of making love to Maya Howe slowly in her room at Grimmauld place…

At that very moment, Maya Howe was sitting in the office of Kevin Landers, discussing her trial answers.

"Start form the top, Ms. Howe. Let's see if we can't make this story make sense," Landers sighed.

"I told you," Maya snarled. "I never saw Trevor with Olga! Don't have any idea what happened to them! Her! Whatever!"

"He says you were there the night she disappeared. In fact, he says you were the one who killed her."

"He said WHAT!" Maya was in a rage. "I never killed anyone! He's crazy!"

"He says you were the reason he was in a coma for fifteen years." The attorney was standing, and circling her slowly.

"I'm telling you, he's clearly insane. Other than his crazy ranting, no one has any reason to believe I was on the balcony with them!"

"Did we tell you it was a balcony?"

"What? I've been there, I know what his apartment looks like." Maya looked unsettled.

"When were you there?"

"I don't know, I just WAS at some point. Why the fuck does it even friggin' matter!"

"It matters a great deal, Ms. Howe. Perhaps you should get your story straight."

"That's it," she said as she stood up. "If you're going to do THIS to me in court, I'm getting my OWN attorney!" And she stormed out of Landers's office.

A few weeks had passed. Maya had spoken to an attorney. A bad attorney, but an attorney none-the-less. She wasn't feeling much better about the situation, but she took a few days off of work to go in for the trial, telling herself that, really, Trevor was on trial, not her.

She apperated to Los Angeles early on a Tuesday morning, had a latte in a park, and then walked to the courthouse. The morning was relatively quiet, and she was regaining some semblance of an inner calm – until she turned the corner, and was greeted by a media zoo. Reporters, TV cameras, news vans … Maya's jaw hit the floor, and she wished desperately for Harry's invisibility cloak.

She took a deep breath, and threw her head back. She walked up to the crowd, and tried to sneak her way through as nonchalantly as possible, but the circus of bodies and recording equipment was unbearable, and she could barely break through. She took in a deep breathe, and pushed harder, to no avail. She was now stuck in the crowd, four people deep, with no way of getting in or out.

Suddenly, there was a roar of voices, and cameras began to flash. Maya was aware of someone yelling Trevor's name, and she snapped her head up.

"No comment, no comment," Trevor was saying calmly as the questions were being fired at him from the reporters.

"Trevor!" Maya yelled, but she was ignored. She looked around, desperately, but found nothing. Her wand was securely in her coat, and she pulled it out, and pointed it at Trevor. 'Accio sunglasses,' she thought at him, and Trevor's shades went flying off his face through the crowd. She caught them, and everyone looked around. She held them up triumphantly and waved them.

"Trevor! Get me out of here!" she wailed, and Trevor ran to her.

"Thank god you're here," he said quietly, and grabbed her arm, dragging her through the crowd. He pulled her up the stairs next to him, and addressed the reporters. "I don't know what happened to Olga Klanova," he began. "But I didn't kill her. She was my girlfriend, and we were very deeply in love." He paused, and turned to Maya with a desperate sort of look in his eyes that she should have known couldn't be good. "This is Maya Howe –this is the woman who knows what happened to Olga Klanova!"

The crowd went berserk: cameras went off, and reporters yelled over each other's questions. Maya instinctively covered her face, and ignored the questions that were being thrown at her. She looked at Trevor, who didn't even look like Trevor anymore. His eyes were wild and fierce, and he had a look of desperation that Maya feared immediately. She knew him well, and this was a look that meant he would do anything he could to get these charges pulled, even if it meant incriminating her. She gulped as police escorts led her into the courthouse.

Athena and Aria sat in Aria's Washington D.C. backyard, having iced tea. They chatted idly about life in general, until a voice yelled over from the next yard.

"Aria! Hey Aria!" Aria's next-door neighbor, Kate Borgins, was leaning on the fence.

"Hey Kate. What can I do for you?"

"The Klanova trial is about to start up, and my cable just went out. Can I watch your TV?" She looked excited and frantic.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Yeah, alright."

Kate was a little old woman from Jersey who was surprisingly spry for her age. She hopped through the back gate that separated the yards, and power-walked into the living room. "You sure you guys don't want to watch? They're going to talk to the murderer today!"

"Who's the murderer," Aria laughed to her sister.

"Some guy named Trevor Wraid! He's a rich old attorney who was dating Olga Kllanova, the tennis player, but then I guess his ex-wife got jealous and off-ed her. At least that's HIS story. I don't believe a word of it."

But Aria and Athena weren't listening anymore. Athena looked up."It couldn't be," she whispered.

Aria just shook her head. They stared at each other in the yard, leaves falling around them, the air perfectly still. Athena put down her glass, brushed her hands on her lap, and stood slowly. Aria did the same. Very calmly, and very collectedly, they walked into the house, and sat on the couch on either side of Kate.

They watched at Trevor's sunglasses flew off his head, and Athena gasped.

"Oh Heavens! It IS Trevor!"

"You know him?" Kate asked incredulously.

"He used to be married to our youngest sister," Aria said.

"No WAY!" yelled Kate. "How could you not be watching this trial? Your sister might go to jail for murder!"

"Kate," Aria said dismissively. "Maya passed away almost five years ago. I'm sure he remarried since then." They watched as he pulled a slender brunette up into the cameras with him. She was shielding her face, and all that could be seen was her large sunglasses.

"Well, as long as that's not your sister, then," Kate said with a shrug. "It's a good thing she divorced him! He's a bad seed if I ever saw one."she clucked. They paused, and watched Trevor's announcement.

"I don't know what happened to Olga Klanova," he began, and Aria rolled her eyes.

"He really was a scum bag, wasn't he?" she said.

"Shh!" Athena and Kate shushed her, and Trevor continued,

"But I didn't kill her. She was my girlfriend, and we were very deeply in love." He turned to the woman next to him. "This is Maya Howe – this is the woman who knows what happened to Olga Klanova!"

"What the Hell! That IS your sister! I thought she was dead!" Kate shrieked, but when she turned to face the two sisters, she lapsed into silence.

Athena sat with her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face, sobbing quietly.

Aria was holding the arm of the couch so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, and her bottom lip was quivering lightly. She was staring very hard at the TV, not blinking, her features still as stone.

Suddenly Athena let out a very loud scream, and grabbed her hair violently. Aria leaned over, and grabbed her hand.

"Stop it, Athena, just fucking stop it," she said calmly, but her voice was shaking.

"It was HER," Athena screamed passionately. "She was there, at mum's funeral and she didn't even … she didn't … she just …" she lapsed into hysterics, and Aria stood, and began to walk aimlessly around the room.

"You both thought she was dead?" Kate began slowly, rubbing Athena's shaking figure on the back comfortingly.

Aria nodded.

"Well," Kate finished feebly. "The first thing you should do is tell the rest of the family to look at the trial, to see for themselves."

Aria looked at her.

"Then you can all band together, and go find her."

Harry and Ron were sitting in a small pub in London, having a drink, watching the football game. Harry's wife was at her sister's birthday dinner, and so the two men had taken a night off to do activities of the male bonding variety.

"Well, it's no Quidditch, but it's sure entertaining to watch," Harry sighed, as the game ended.

"Oi! Turn it up! This is the tennis trial!" A man yelled, and Harry and Ron leisurely looked up to the Television. The barkeep hit the volume button, and a small population of men around the bar looked up in rapt attention.

"Hey Harry, don't we know him?" Ron squinted at Trevor.

"He looks familiar, yeah. Who is he?"

"No idea," Ron shrugged, and took a sip of his beer.

"Who's that woman with him?" Harry asked next. "She looks familiar too, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, come to think about it, she does!" said Ron.

"Excuse me," Harry leaned over to the man next to him. "Can you tell me who those people are?"

"That's Trevor," the man pointed to the man. "And that's the woman who murdered his girlfriend, the tennis player."

"Trevor, eh?" Ron said lightly. "I don't recall anyone named Trevor."

Harry nodded, and shrugged. "Well, see what he has to say," he said.

"I don't know what happened to Olga Klanova," the man called Trevor said to the camera. "But I didn't kill her. She was my girlfriend, and we were very deeply in love." He paused, and turned to the woman next to him. "This is Maya Howe – this is the woman who knows what happened to Olga Klanova!"

Ron choked on his drink for the second time in so many weeks. He looked at Harry, and the two of them shared a horrified, awed look. They turned their eyes back to the TV.

"Maya! But … Harry, that was Maya!" Ron stuttered and gaped like a fish out of water.

"It couldn't have been!" Harry said. But just then Ginny burst through the front door of the pub.

"Ron! Harry! Did you see? I came as soon as I could!" She ran to them, pointing wildly at the TV.

"How is that even possible?" Ron asked, his eyes wide.

"I don't know," Ginny grabbed them both by the arm. "But Maya's alive, and we have to go find her!"

"Uh oh," said Harry softly.

"What?" Ginny asked impatiently.

Harry looked at his two friends. "Someone has to tell Snape."

Minerva McGonigal was enjoying a cup of tea in her study when Remus Lupin popped into existence.

"Remus! Dear Heavens!" She cried in surprise, spilling her tea down her robes. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Come with me," he said abruptly, and grabbed her. He apperated them both from her home to his own.

"Remus?"

"We've been fooled, Minerva. Everyone has. Look!" He pointed to a television that was blaring in the corner.

"What … what is this?"

"Read the scroll, Minerva."

McGonigal read the scroll across the bottom of the screen which read: '…new witness Maya Howe comes forward in the Trevor Wraid/Olga Klanova trial. Howe will testify …"

She looked up. "What is the meaning of this, Remus? Explain yourself!"

"Maya's alive, Minerva. Alive! Look!" He pointed again to the TV, where a picture of Maya being ushered into the courthouse was playing with the scroll running underneath. McGonigal gasped, and put her hand over her mouth.

"What happened, Remus? What does this mean?"

"That something went very, very wrong, that no one is aware of. And I think Maya may be in trouble."

"I'm in shock! I don't know what to do!" McGonigal looked around the room helplessly.

"I think we should start by gathering everyone together to break the news. To Aria and Athena, especially."

McGonigal nodded, and sank into the chair behind her. She couldn't stop staring at her former student on the television. If that really was her, how this news would change everything...

**Read and Review! Thanks to all my loyal reviewers, I love you guys so much! You really do light up my internet-obsessed life.**

**But seriously, tell me what you think. **

**Coming up soon: Maya testifies in court, and Snape gets the shock of his life ... twice!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to all of my reviewers, especially snarkastic, who pointed out that I mispelled McGonagall's name in the last chapter. Whoops... Ah well. So here's the new bit: Maya being tried for murder. Read and Review! Maya and Sev find out about each other soon. I promise.**

Maya was shaking in the witness chair. She couldn't decide if it was fear or anger, or some combination of both. How had she gotten herself into this situation? Why hadn't she obliviated Trevor when she had had the chance? She took a deep breath, and held up her right hand, promising to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, all the while wondering what she actually would tell everyone. She figured a horcrux story would put her in the looney bin, but what were her options?

"Ms. Howe," came Trevor's attorney, walking up to her slowly in his expensive suit. "That is your name, isn't it?"

"Um, yes, it is."

"But you also go by Jasmine Von Tost?"

"Yes, I've been going by Jasmine Von Tost for the past few years."

"Why would you change your name?"

"Well," she began slowly, not wanting to fall into any lawyers traps. "I had a stalker. I was afraid he was going to try to kill me, so I changed my name."

"There is no record of a stalker in your file," Landers said with a raised eyebrow. "Shouldn't you have told the police?"

Like the LAPD could save me from Voldemort, she thought with a snort, but maintained her composure. "Perhaps. But this was a while ago. I was scared. I didn't want to get myself into trouble, or my sisters, or … well, anyone, really. So I just moved, and started going by my middle name." She paused and folded her hands in her lap. "Deciding to go by your middle name isn't a crime, is it?"

Landers flashed a fake smile at her. "No, Ms. Howe, it isn't. But after five years, why are you still in hiding?"

"I don't know what happened to this guy and his friends," she said rudely. "He was dangerous five years ago, and if he's still around, I'm not going to all of the sudden put myself back on the map for him to come FIND me. I'm still the same person, my name is just different. I'm not really in hiding at all. I'm just avoiding a confrontation with a psychopath. You understand."

"Tell me about this stalker," he said, looking at her hard.

"Why is that relevant?"

"I'll decide what's relevant, Ms. Howe," Landers shot back.

"Objection," came the voice of the prosecutor. "I agree with Ms. Howe. That isn't relevant to the situation at hand."

"Sustained," said the judge, a tired-looking man in his forties who seemed like he wished he was playing golf instead. "Mr. Landers, this line of questioning is going nowhere. Please continue with something more concrete."

Landers nodded, obviously annoyed. "Ms. Howe, you were married to my client at one point, were you not?"

"Yes," she tried to hide the sneer that formed on her upper lip. "For about a year."

"When was this?"

"More than twenty years ago, now."

"And how was the marriage?"

"What do you mean, 'how was it'? It was a marriage. We lived together. We didn't have any children, and we both had jobs."

"Was Mr. Wraid faithful?" He asked forcefully.

Maya sighed. "No," she said softly. "He was not."

"How did that make you feel, Ms. Howe?"

"That he slept with my sister?" she asked with malice. "Not all that great, to tell you the truth. How would you feel?" How dare he, she thought angrily. How dare he!

"Were you at all jealous of his affair?" Landers was examining his cuticles as he spoke.

"No," she answered confidently. "Just angry. And I was more angry at my sister than at Trevor, really."

"Angry enough to kill?"

"What! No! Are you trying to say that I've had this anger pent up in me for twenty years? If I was going to kill anyone, I would've killed my sister, and I would have done it twenty years ago!" 'Oops', she thought. 'Got a little angry. Don't say things like 'kill' when you're on trial for murder.'

"Where is your sister now?"

"She passed away about five years ago." Maya said, her voice grave and tired.

"How did she die?"

"Well, I certainly didn't kill her."

"Answer the question please, Ms. Howe. How did your sister die."

Maya thought fast. This was going to be tricky.

"She was murdered," she said hotly. "But not be me. Can I make the relevance argument again? Or do I have to be a lawyer to do that?" She looked at the judge with annoyance in her eyes.

"Mr. Landers, please get on with the questioning, and stick with pertinent events, please. You've been warned." The judge nodded to Landers, but glared at Maya. "Ms. Howe, do not make me hold you in contempt of court."

She shrunk back into her chair.

"Very well, Ms. Howe. Let's go back to you and Mr. Wraid. Why did the marriage end?"

"I thought we had established it was because he had an affair," she answered.

"Ok, bad question. Let's try again. HOW did the marriage end?"

"Trevor left me. I filed for divorce."

"You didn't know that he was in a coma for fifteen years?"

"In a coma?" Maya snorted. "Who would believe that?"

"You don't think he was in a coma?"

"Mr. Landers," Maya began, hoping she could keep this story straight. "Trevor only had one remaining family member – his father. His father did not have the money to keep Trevor on life support for fifteen years. And I certainly didn't. But to be honest, I didn't even know where he was. He just up and left one day. As soon as I couldn't find him, I assumed he had gone to be with my sister, but she hadn't seen him either. After a few months, we figured he either had to be dead, or he had just cut town to avoid alimony payments."

"So you deny that you had any part in putting Mr. Wraid into a coma that he was in for fifteen years prior to meeting Olga Klanova."

"Yes. I never put Trevor Wraid into a coma." There. That was true, at least.

"Where were you on the night Olga disappeared?"

"In England, visiting my sisters and some old friends."

"Did you ever see Olga Klanova?"

"On Television, playing tennis. Never in person."

"Were you in Mr. Wraid's apartment the night Olga disappeared?"

"No," she kept her voice steady.

"Were you ever in Mr. Wraid's apartment?"

"I've been there, yes. But not that night."

"Do you know where Olga Klanova is?"

"Absolutely not."

"Did you kill Olga Klanova?"

"Certainly not!"

"Why would Mr. Wraid accuse you of this crime?"

Maya took a deep breath. Now or never.

"I assumed he had gone a little crackers. I mean, writing a book about being in a coma after never actually being in a coma? Accusing his ex-wife of killing his girlfriend? Dating Olga Klanova in the first place? He's clearly a nutter." She looked down at Trevor who was seething. That was definitely a good sign.

"Ms. Howe," said Landers suddenly.

"Yes?" Maya said sweetly.

"Can you prove that you were in England?"

"You want a postcard?"

"I'm referring to the fact that other than your word, we have no proof that you were where you say that you were on the night Olga disappeared."

"But you have no proof I wasn't there, either."

"Ms. Howe, Are you sure you were not at Trevor Wraid's apartment on the night that Olga disappeared."

"I'm quite sure," she said. "I never once saw Olga Klanova in person. If she was at his apartment at any time that I was at his apartment, I had no knowledge of it." She scrunched up her nose. "I already answered that question, didn't I? Did you not hear me the first time?" She knew that her tone was obnoxious, but she had just become aware of a news camera in the courtroom. If she was seen on TV by anyone, her cover would be blown. It wouldn't be long before Voldemort and the Deatheaters knew where to find her, or worse, Brigid.

"Very well, Ms. Howe, very well," Landers was saying. "Then you wouldn't mind explaining these security tapes to me?" He was motioning for a warden to pull a piece of evidence.

"Security tapes? What are you talking about?"

A large screen was unfurled, and a scratchy, gray and white surveillance tape was being played.

"Here, as you can see," Landers began, pointing at two figures with a laser pointer, "is Ms. Klanova and Mr. Wraid." The figures walked through the lobby of Trevor's building, arm in arm, and disappeared off camera. Landers made a motion, and the film was sped up, and then paused. Maya got a pit in her stomach that made her want to throw up.

"Ms. Howe, is this or is this not you walking through the lobby of Mr. Wraid's apartment building?" Landers had a definite, hard quality to his voice.

"I, uh…"

"This tape was taken the same night Olga Klanova went missing. We see you leave, exactly three hours after Ms. Klanova and Mr. Wraid enter. Can you explain that to me, please?" He looked Maya in the eye, and she was frightened. Maybe she could stupefy the whole room, and apperate out of there. Maybe she could obliviate all of them. Maybe she could…

"Ms. Howe? Answer the question!"

She couldn't think – they couldn't pin this on her! She stood, and whipped out her wand.

"Stupify!" She yelled I a panic, and the room went deathly still. "Shit!" she yelled. "Shit!" She saw their eyes, watching her, even though they couldn't move. "Obliviate!" she screamed. "Obliviate! Obliviate!" She went through the courtroom and obliviated every single person, including the judge. She was in a panic, and she knew the spell wasn't going to be that powerful, but at least it gave her a chance to get out of there. She ran to the back wall, and apperated away with a pop! Just as the courtroom was staring to rustle with the fading of the spell.

**Coming up next: Nozomi's romantic night out is spoiled by the Klanova trial. And the Weasleys. And Harry. And like, every other character but the kitchen sink. And if you think Nozomi is upset, think about poor Sevvy...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Eh ... okay, so this is the new version of this chapter, cuz the old one had too many mistakes. My bad! Thanks to my reviewers for catching them. Read and Review!**

Nozomi looked at her watch. She was expecting Snape any moment. She had made a light Italian dinner for them: the night was warm, and she had dragged her table and only two chairs to her small balcony for a breezy supper. She was tingling with excitement – she wanted to drop hints about knowing a handful of his former students and being privy to his old life, but she didn't want to frighten him away. But, for once in her life, she had the upper hand, and she planned to use it.

An insistent wrap on the door called her attention from sweeping the dust off the patio, and she practically skipped to the door. She threw it open, and Severus stepped inside without a word.

"I see you've managed to air your flat out of its usual stench of tar and nicotine," he commented dryly.

"Fabreeze." She answered, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to be this unpleasant all night?"

He just smirked.

"Wonderful," she rolled her eyes. "At least tell me I look nice, and I'll overlook the nastiness…for now."

"You look similar to how you always look," he eyed her up and down. "Is this a new shade of black? New pair of masculine footwear?" He eyeballed her combat boots disdainfully.

"I hate you," she snorted. "Come on in. Supper's almost ready." He followed her in, and walked straight through to the small balcony. She brought him a glass of brandy, and sat next to him. They stared silently off into the sunset.

"How have classes been going so far this week?" she asked conversationally.

"Typically," he flared his nostrils. "I had a student manage to burn a hole through one of the desks earlier today."

She laughed softly. "It could have been worse."

"My entire life could be worse," he droned, and swallowed the brandy in one sip.

"It's not that bad," she began. "You have me, after all. And I'm good for certain entertainment value." She swallowed her brandy as well, and leaned her head sideways to rest on his shoulder. He didn't protest, and she nestled herself into a comfortable position.

A sudden beeping caused her to start, and Snape glared around the table with vicious intent.

"It's just the phone," she soothed. Nozomi glanced at her cell phone, and her stomach gave a little jump of excitement. "Hello?"

"Nozomi, it's Ginny."

"I know that darling. You showed up on my mobile."

"Ah, yes, well … I have a bit of shocking news, you see, and I need to know where Snape is." The words came tumbling out, and Nozomi was a bit perplexed.

"At my flat, actually. About to have supper."

"I really hate to do this to you, but can we come over for a tick?" Ginny really did sound apologetic, but urgent all the same. Nozomi stole a glance at Snape, who was staring daggers at the phone.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she began.

"Nozomi, I wouldn't do this if it weren't an emergency … please?"

"Alright – but give me a few minutes. I can't have you popping right into my living room unannounced," she grumbled.

"Ok, good. Get ready, we'll be there in exactly 5 minutes." She paused. "Incidentally, we will be popping right into your living room, if that's alright."

Nozomi snorted. "Great," she said under her breath. "Yeah, yeah, sure mate."

"Thanks. See you soon." And Ginny hung up. Nozomi looked off at the horizon, and tossed her phone carelessly at her side.

"Friends of yours?" Snape asked.

She took a deep breath. "Friends of your, actually," she began slowly.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. Wondering where you were. I told them you were here."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's some sort of emergency, I guess. They need to talk to you in person."

Snape took Nozomi's chin in his fingers and brought her face around so he could look into her eyes. "Who are you speaking of?"

Nozomi looked perturbed. "You remember when I told you that I was going to a mate of mine's party that night we had drinks? Well, it turns out that she knows you … and so did just about everyone else at the party. Funny, really."

"University staff? Students?" He asked, his throat beginning to constrict. He hoped desperately these weren't the same friends who played Quidditch ….

"I guess you could call them students. Or they were anyway." She gave an awkward half-smile. "Okay, don't get upset … my friend is named Ginny. Ginny Wea-"

"Weasley," he interrupted her with a hollow sound in his voice.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Ginny Weasley."

He stood abruptly. "So you know, then."

"Know what?"

"About my past. About my real identity." He turned away from her.

"No, Severus, I only know what you've told me! All they said was that they knew you, that you used to teach them at Hogwarts …" She walked up to him and put her arms around him from behind, and leaned her head miserably on his back.

"And she's coming here?"

"I think so," Nozomi began, but was interrupted by several loud POP!s. She and Snape both turned their heads, and were greeted by Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter in her living room.

"Professor!" Hermione cried out. "Thank goodness we've found you!" The group of them strode to the balcony. Nozomi released her hold on Snape, and tried to fade into the background.

"Ms. Granger. What are you and your band of miscreants doing here? Was my desire never to lay eyes on you again misunderstood by my abrupt departure from your lives without forwarding address? I can see how that would cause confusion." He was positively livid. And yet, there was a sense of familiarity that heaved up in his stomach, and made him a bit dizzy. It had been years – literally – since he had seen even one of his old students. And here they were, standing in front of him as if no time at all had passed.

"Professor, I know you don't want to see us, but there's something you really should see," Harry began with the same intensity Snape had disliked from their days together at Hogwarts.

"What is it, Mr. Potter? This had better be good," he warned, and folded his arms across his chest intimidatingly.

Ginny walked inside, and located the remote for the television. She clicked it on, and began to surf channels. She stopped suddenly on a particular news station. She turned and said to Snape gravely,

"Sir? You may want to sit down for this."

Snape glared at her, and stood watching the broadcast.

"And this video, taken from the courtroom of the Olga Klanova trial, is still remarkably unexplained. New defense witness Maya Howe was giving testimony, when she suddenly stood on the witness stand, began shouting gibberish, and then ran out of the room. Here's the footage:" The perfectly-coiffed anchorwoman clicked off the screen, and a yellowish video of Maya standing and waving her wand about, yelling "Stupify!" blared into Nozomi's living room.

Snape suddenly wished he had taken Ginny's advice. He locked his knees, and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe them anyway, so why bother actually watching? Vaguely he could hear the newscaster begin to speak – something about how no one seems to remember Maya even being in the courtroom, and how this video is the only evidence that she was even there at all. He knitted his eyebrows together as tightly as he could, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted. He felt a hand on his arm, and he lightly managed to allow himself to be led to Nozomi's couch, where he sat heavily, still not opening his eyes.

"Professor?" came Granger's voice. He shook his head lightly, and gingerly placed his hand over his face.

Hermione looked at Harry, Ron and Ginny with great concern. Snape was usually pasty-while, but upon hearing Maya's name and actually seeing her, alive and well and performing magic on television, no less, he had gone a shade of white paler than any of them had ever seen. His eyes had sort of glassed over, that is, before he had swollen them closed so tightly that they seemed glued that way. His mouth had opened, and then closed, and his breathing had become labored. Hermione led him to the couch, but he was shivering slightly, and she began to worry that he might go into shock.

"Harry! Do something! The poor man is going to have a heart attack!" Hermione gasped out.

"At his age? He's much too young for that," chided Ron. Ginny shot him a look, and he looked at the floor, chagrinned.

"Ronald, I know you don't like the man, but really, now is NOT the time!"

"Just trying to make everyone feel better," he muttered, and looked anywhere but his ex-professor. He noticed a body, all in black, standing against the balcony railing through the nearby sliding glass doors, and walked over to it.

Nozomi stood quietly, smoking a cigarette, hands shaking. Ron couldn't stand too close, as he didn't want to risk choking on second-hand smoke – he was already in enough trouble for being insensitive, after all – but he wanted to check on the young girl just the same. Her eyes were steely and distracted, and Ron could tell that she was worried, more worried than all four of them, about Snape. Stupid bloke, Ron thought. The man that no one liked finally found someone to adore him endlessly, and he ignores it. He must really WANT to be miserable.

Snape finally felt the spinning in his mind subside, and he felt confident to open his eyes. For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was, but as Hermione Granger's face came into focus just inches away from his own, the world began to make sense again.

"Ms. Granger, remove yourself!" he barked. Hermione jumped, but backed away as he requested. He stood, and walked to the balcony, where Ron dove out of his way. He stood next to Nozomi, and stared off.

"Nozomi, if you do not put that infernal cigarette out at once I will personally blast it over this railing, and you with it."

Nozomi quietly, as if in a trance, dropped the cig to the floor and stepped on it to put it out. The two of them stood silently for a moment.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted our dinner with this nonsense," he continued finally, very softly. "The pasta is still hot, I assume?"

Nozomi nodded slightly, and then, as if a switch had been turned, tears began to stream down her face. "If you're leaving, then just go."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said in annoyance, as she caught her breath.

"But professor!" Harry insisted. "Maya may need our help!"

"I'm not going anywhere," he repeated.

"Professor Snape, I think that perhaps you're just confused right now. I would be too, I imagine-" Hermione tried, by Snape swiveled and looked at them in the eye.

"I want you four out of here immediately! How dare you interrupt my new solace with this drivel! If Maya Howe wanted my help in any capacity, she would not have run away and played DEAD for the past FIVE YEARS!" His voice boomed at them in rage, and Nozomi's tears ran more freely now. "Clearly she wants to be left alone. She can get herself out of her own problems." And he turned back to Nozomi.

The four companions looked at each other in amazement. Finally Ginny shook her head.

"No, Professor Snape, I will not accept that. Maya has been accused of murder! Do you understand that? Trevor accused her of murder, and from the evidence, it seems like they may be able to put her in jail. She just obliviated a whole ROOM of muggles, and now no one can find her! CLEARLY, something is going on, and I for one, am not just going to sit here while she goes to muggle prison, and NEITHER are you!" She looked at Snape full in the face, and glared.

Just then, an owl flew overhead and dropped a piece of parchment at their feet. Snape picked it up, and unfurled it.

Severus-

We must speak with you immediately.

Do not misunderstand the urgency of this

Letter. Apperate to Remus Lupin's home

As soon as possible.

-Aria Howe

He crumpled it up. "No," he said again. "I'm not going."

Finally, Nozomi had had enough. "Oh for Goodness sake, Severus, just fucking go! Clearly this woman needs some help, and if everyone thinks she's dead, no one can give it to her."

"Nozomi, do not school me in matters in which you have no knowledge or business." His voice was angry.

"I have tried for almost a YEAR to make you love me, you arrogant prick! And now Maya Howe, the great love of your life, the woman that I will never compare to, is out there again. If you don't go get her, I WILL, and believe me, It'll take a lot more effort on my part because I can't bloody pop in and out of people's living rooms like you can!" And she threw her lighter at his chest, and stormed into the house. She went into her bedroom, and slammed the door.

Ginny followed her quickly to comfort her, and Hermione looked at Snape. Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Hermione, Harry and I are going to find Lupin," Ron said quietly. Hermione didn't say anything, her eyes still locked with Snape's. Ron shrugged, and he and Harry popped over to Lupin's home.

"So you'll go, then," Hermione said carefully.

"She doesn't want me," he said flatly in a rare moment of visible vulnerability.

"Well, you'll never know for sure until you try," she said. She apperated away to Lupin's as well. Snape was alone – he turned and walked to the balcony once again, and just stared. Finally, after a long while, he sighed, closed his eyes, enjoyed his last few seconds of silence, and apperated to the front of Remus Lupin's home.

**Coming up next: I still don't know. Send me suggestions. Thanks dudes!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, back again. Here we go!**

Severus Snape stood on the doorstep of Remus Lupin's small flat, desperately wanting to run away. He took a deep breathe hoping to find some courage, but when his attempt failed, decided a short walk to settle his nerves was in order. He began a brisk walk down the street, away form the madhouse he was sureawaited him behind the door.Down the street he strode, head to the ground, deeply breathing the crisp English air. Feelings ofangry betrayal began to surface: just when he had found himself, he thought bitterly. Just when things were starting to come together. Just as he had begun to convince himself to let go of the past, the past came stomping up to his doorstep, and slapped him across the face.

He sat on a park bench and watched a squirrel run up and down a tree trunk. It had been sunny at Nozomi's flat, but London, as always, was mired in fog. He wasn't sure which direction he was facing, and he most certainly couldn't see the sun set through the mist. He settled into his cloak, and regarded the squirrel with disinterest. Why now? Why had she been hiding? Five years, his brain was screaming. Five goddamn years. And she was no worse for the wear, obviously. Her sisters, her parents, HIM …they just weren't important enough. He clenched and unclenched his jaw. "Why am I here?" he muttered to himself. He was quite certain that if she had wanted him near her,she would have spoken to him before now.He shook his head, and leaned back, abandoning the squirrel. He closed his eyes, letting thoughts of her come to him in waves. Happy moments, horrible moments, frusting moments of young love, all jumbled together. He sighed again. He couldn't face her his his brain in this state of chaos. He was determined to sort himself out before returning to Lupin's.

His memories were vibrant and intense, almost as if they had occurred just moments earlier.He remembered Mayapoking him insistantly in the arm. They were watching Quidditch, and he desperately wanted to touch her – but he was just a child. She kept taking pictures of them, leaning in close enough to be almost cheek to cheek … a fleeting moment of closeness that ended with every flash of the camera ……

"Hello, Maya. How was your summer? I see you enjoyed the sun." He raised an eyebrow at her tanned complexion. Maya blushed, and looked down. He cocked his head in interest. He had never made her blush before. Could she possibly be flattered by that back-handed complement? How odd ….. and then she smiled at him, and he froze the image: a thirteen year old girl with an innocent toothy grin. If he could only go back to that ….

He watched as sheseemed to take in a small intake of breath in something akin to embarrassment or slight surprise. He smiled in spite of himself, and felt an ache inside him. He wanted to smile like that always, always smiling at her….She turned and gazed up at him. he lifted an eyebrow. There were times when his schoolboy crush on her was unbearable … what was it about her, he thought, that kept him holding on for this long? Was it the fact that he knew he could never really have her? That by obsessing over love lost he could keep everyone else at a distance?People like Nozomi? A mildly alrming thought occurred to him -perhaps he was not inwith Maya at all, only the memory and the idea of her being...

He bowed, and then held out his hand. She smile, almost thankfully, and took it in her own. As the music form the great hall drifted lightly out through the windows, Maya wrapped her hand in the lapel of Severus's robes, and leaned into him. He placed his hand gently on her hip, and they began a brisk waltz. Soon she was smiling, and he was smirking as he spun her and watched her beige and green gown billow out against the crisp air. The music slowed and she moved in closer. He readjusted his hand around her to the small of her back and inhaled her perfume. Vanilla today. Erotic and sensual. He could feel her breath against his ear, and he felt himself blush softly. As the music stopped, they pulled apart, and she smiled at him…. he clumsily placed his hand on her face and leaned down to her. He kissed her very lightly on the lips, and then, breathing in for courage, kissed her again more decisively. He felt her lean into his lips and sigh contentedly. When he ended the kiss and dropped his hands, he looked at her self-consciously. Her eyes were still closed, and she was smiling. She opened her eyes then, and looked at him. "Thank you," she said simply, and his mind almost burst. He could produce a patronus with that one moment … the legendary Maya Howe, bringing him from the dark side to the light, changing his life with a wave of her hand …..

And then he saw it. She was crying, and looking at him in pain. And she was pulling clothes back on, and running from the room. Away from him. And he was only eighteen….

Then she was saying goodbye. She was looking at him through sobs, as if the tears running down her face were somehow enough to prove that she was just as miserable as he was ….

And he heard the sounds of her favorite records drifting through his memory, and he saw Bellatrix LeStrange and Regulus Black killing the young men at the Ministry of Magic, and Voldemort was killing Lily Potter, and he was killing himself inside. And Maya was gone ….

Snape looked around. The fog had grown colder and darker,so he stood gruffly, and began to walk back to Lupin's house; he was sure they were expecting him by that point. He knew the Granger girl would be pacing wildly, probably apperating back and forth between Lupin's and Nozomi's place to see where he was …. Nozomi! The thought of his young companion struck him like a fist.That poor girl. He had abandoned her back at Kent. He hoped she was holding up alright.

He reached Lupin's door, and closed his eyes briefly. He didn't know what would happen with Maya. He didn't know if he wanted to see her again. She was living so perfectly bittersweet in his mind, giving him a brief smile when he pulled her out of the memory files … as a real person, back in his life for the third time, he didn't know how to feel – especially after so much had changed. But he was compelled toslowly turned the knob on Lupin's front door, and walk as quietly as possible into the room. He was greeted with silence, which was a bit troubling at first, but after a quick glance around, he saw that there were several coats hanging near the door, one of which he recognized to be the same thing Hermione had been wearing an hour earlier.

He slunk through the hall, and rounded a corner into the large sitting room. Here, finally there was a sign of human life: Athena Howe was sitting on the edge of the couch staring at the fire intently. Snapelurked into the room, but she made no move of even recognizing his presense. He sat on the chair opposite her, and watched her face. She had been crying, that much he could see, but she seemed less youthful than he had remembered: the light had left her usually cheerful face. He sat in silence regarding her for a moment before she spoke, never taking her gaze from the fire.

"Five years, Severus," she said deeply. "Five years and she couldn't even give us a hint." Her voice was husky, as if she had been drinking strong brandy.

"Five years is a long time," he murmured in agreement.

"Five years is a long time," she said. Her voice had an exhausted quality to it. "For years, I thought we were very lucky," she began, still not taking her eyes from the fire. "We didn't lose anyone to the war. We had our whole family together." She sneered, and coughed abruptly. "Now it seems we've lost everyone."

Snape peered at her with interest. Athena was much changed by this news: no longer happy-go-lucky, she was morose and cold. He almost smiled bitterly when he realized she reminded him of himself.

"Well, now you get one back," he muttered.

"I don't want her," came the surprising reply, and Snape looked up. "First Meena makes a pact with Voldemort, then she and Maya kill each other, then my mother dies of despair, and my father's gone insane. All I have left is a distant American sister who's greatest inconvenience is being related to a family with such a colorful recent history." She finally brought her sunken eyes over to Snape's. "This is her fault, don't you see! This is her damn fault! Why couldn't she just stay DEAD?" And her face crumbled, andshe cried unabashedly into her hand. Snape made no move to stop her, and instead pondered her words carefully, taking his own time to stare into the fire.

"Athena, for GOD'S SAKE! Are you crying again?" came Aria's harsh and ragged voice form the next room. She charged in, Hermione and Ginney on her heels, and stopped short when she saw Snape. "Ah, look who finally decided to show up." He raised an eyebrow. Hermione gave an exasperated expression at Aria's back, and an apologetic one to Snape.

"Professor! I'm glad you came," she said as cheerfully as possible. Aria had forgotten him, and was sitting next to Athena on the couch, one hand on her back, one hand rubbing her own temples, as if trying to ward off a massive headache. "It's been rough around here," she said unecissarily, nodding at the two sisters.

"I'll go fetch everyone else," Ginny said, and walked out of the room. Hermione sat on the end of the couch, facing Snape, looking at him expectantly. He had nothing to say to her, however, so he simply looked back at her, making no move to speak.

A moment later, the rest of the group came in, followed by – to Snape's utter surprise – Nozomi. They sat in various places about the room, mostly avoiding Snape's gaze. Nozomi leaned against the back wall, and folded her arms tightly around her.

Aria stood roughly, and walked to the center of the room. "Thank you all for coming, I know this has been a difficult time for some of us," she paused and began to pace. "I have sent an owl to Maya informing her of our actions to find her. Perhaps she can explain … herself to … us." Aria had gritted her teeth in anger.

"I don't think she wants to be found," Snape ventured coldly. Aria looked at him with unmasked hatred.

"I don't care what you think, Severus. I don't know what the hell she thinks she's doing, but she cannot treat us this way. She simply cannot." She sniffed, and turned back to Lupin and Minerva. "I have not as of yet received a reply, but I'm planning on waiting another few hours before simply traveling to Los Angeles and confronting her personally. Does anyone wish to accompany me?" She looked pointedly around the room. The statement seemed threatening somehow, but Snape wasn't sure if she was trying to intimidate people into joining her or staying away from her.

"Do you remember what happened the last time YOU made a rash decision like this?" Snape asked maliciously. "You started this whole affair. Could you perhaps try finesse this time?"

"Severus Snape, I swear to God, I will kill you." Aria looked like she meant it.

"And I will thank you for not having to witness this horrible failure of a family reunion." His eyes challenged her as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Severus, Aria, really. Let's all just calm down." Lupin stood, walked to Aria, and led her to the couch. Despite her strong statements earlier, she seemed pliable, and willing to be shuffled around by Lupin likegoat and goatherd.

"Can I get anyone some tea?" Hermione tried cheerfully.

"Hermione, thank you, I would love some tea," Minerva said pointedly, and looked at her with a smile. Hermione stood, and began to bustle about. Snape growled to himself.

"So what do we do now?" Snape snapped. "Just sit here and wait for to her to answer the owl with a note asking us to supper?" he glared back at Aria.

"Well, if I may," Lupin interjected quickly. "I believe Severus may be correct in assuming that if Maya wanted any sort of contact with us, she would have come to us earlier," Aria took in a deep breath, and Lupin placed a hand on her arm to cut off her next slew of comments. He continued hurredly. "However, I'm sure there are several possible explanations as to why she has chosen to remain hidden. We are failing to look at the big picture here. The firstthing to explain is how on Earth she managed to resurrect herself. As we all witnessed, Maya Howe was undoubtably deceased upon our last venture together."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Are you insinuating that the woman we saw was NOT, in fact, Maya Howe?"

"It is possible that this is a case of stolen identity. Perhaps whoever this ACTUALLY is simply did not know enough about Maya to maintain contact with the family."

"But anyone making a polyjuice potion would need something from Maya, and she's been buried for five years," Hermione pointed out.

"I'm not saying that'swhat happened, I'm just pointing out the possibility that Maya may not really be Maya." Lupin gave a meaningful look to Aria, who shuffled her gaze away, and then to Snape, who met his gaze full on in challenge.

"Maybe someone brought her back to life, and she has amnesia!" Ron said suddenly.

"That happens all the time in the movies," Harry agreed. "But I don't know how much weight we could really put into that theory."

"But a theory none the less," Lupin nodded approvingly.

"May I point out," seethed Aria, "that we can sit here for weeks and come up with ridiculous reasons my sister hasn't spoken to us in five years, but either way, we aren't getting anywhere! If it is her, I'm going to go find her. If it isn't her, I don't want some random person parading around as Maya Howe! I'm going to Los Angeles tonight. I'm not going to lose any more sleep over this." She stood, and looked around the room forcefully.

"Very well, Aria, if you feel that's the best course of action. I will accompany you." Lupin stood. Aria began to prostest, but he silenced her with his next statement. "I wouldn't want your emotions taking over your judgement. I'll just be there to help."

"Fine. We leave in three hours. If you're not ready, I'll leave without you." Aria stormed out of the room.

"Remus, do you really think this is wise?" balked Minerva.

Lupin just shrugged with a sad look on his features, and followed Aria out the door.

**Wow! I'm back! I had to graduate, and move, and start working full-time ... you know the deal. Anyway, Now hopefully I'll be able to start updating regularly. No more of this month between update stuff. So yeah. Tell me what you think. Suggestions? Let me know. THanks!**


	14. Chapter 14

**This one's short. Just a little filler-ific before everyone meets up again! Thanks for reading - review!**

The world had come apart before Maya's eyes. After running from the court room, she had been subpoenaed twice already for new court dates. After the horrible display of erasing the memories of an entire courtroom of muggles, Maya had tried to clean up the mess as quietly and quickly as possible, but it seemed muggle technology was always one step ahead of her. She stole the apartment surveillance tape, but there were several more copies in existence. She tried to erase all traces of the courtroom video of her fleeing the building, but it was in so many places on the internet, it was simply impossible to find them all. And they seemed to multiply daily! Finally, in a desperate act, Maya decided she had to take a vacation: lay low for a while, maybe change her name again. After all, fake government paperwork, social security cards, bank accounts – these were all relatively simple to conjure. She had already changed the maroon bob to a longer, wavy light brown style. She knew the hair wouldn't keep her hidden, but it made her feel a little more confident. She cursed Sirius Black, and his ability to hide from the Azkaban officials for this long … why she had wasted her school years developing acne medicine rather than becoming an animagus, she couldn't remember, but she was kicking herself for it now.

She had packed up Brigid, and explained that they were taking a vacation. Brigid, always happy to go on adventures with her mother, had no qualms about Maya making everything she owned very tiny, and putting it in a suitcase. Brigid sat cross-legged on the floor where Maya was stuffing clothing in a travel case in the bedroom. She was playing with two dolls, but looked around the room when she heard a light tapping.

"Ooooh! Mommy! Look at the birdy! It's carrying something in its mouth!" Brigid squealed with delight.

"Brigid, please. I need to concentrate right now, okay?"

"But look! It's trying to get in!" Brigid was more insistent now. Maya looked up, and saw an owl with a message caught in its beak. Her breathe caught in her throat, and she froze for a moment. The owl looked directly at her, and flexed out his wings before settling on the window sill. Fear clenched Maya's stomach, but she shook it off. Deatheaters didn't warn you with a polite owl message about their impending attack. They just showed up and killed you. No, it couldn't be the Deatheaters. She squeezed her eyes shut. Could one of her sisters have seen the newscast? Probably not Athena. She didn't even know what a computer was. Aria was the most likely candidate.

Maya noticed her hands were shaking. "I'm sure he's just lost," she managed to answer her daughter calmly. She had no intention of reading the letter.

"But don't people send letters with owls sometimes?" Brigid asked innocently, excited that one of the owls she had been told about might finally deliver a letter to her!

"Yes, but no one would send a letter to me," Maya said with finality. And went over to shut the curtains. She reached for the cord, but the owl hooted loudly and shook the letter in its beak, and Brigid giggled.

"Mommy! Just open the letter! Maybe it's from somebody we know!"

"No." And Maya threw the curtains shut, plunging the room into darkness.

"I can't see!" whined Brigid, and Maya stomped over to the wall and turned the light switch. As she did, the door bell began to ring. Brigid hopped up, but Maya grabbed her, shaking her head.

"Someone is at the door!"

"I don't want to talk to them," Maya warned. "Sit down!"

"Mommy, stop it! I want to see the owl and answer the door!" The doorbell rang again, and Brigid began to wriggle.

"Brigid, please! We can't open the door!" She took her daughter harshly in her hands, and held her tightly. "Listen to me. Bad men are looking for mommy, alright? We can't answer the door. We can't read the owl letters. We have to leave as soon as possible."

Brigid was all of the sudden very frightened, and nodded silently, her eyes opened very wide. She started to sit back down when they both heard the squeaking of the rusty door on the mailbox affixed in the front door, and the sound of a letter lightly hitting the floor in the entry hall. Brigid started to cry, and Maya picked her up and held her tight.

"It'll be okay," she soothed, not really believing it. "Stay right here, and I'll go get the letter. We'll at least see who it is from." Brigid sat obediently, sniffling loudly.

Maya walked slowly to the entry hall, and saw the letter sitting, alone, on the tiled floor. She eyed it for a moment before picking it up. She ripped it open slowly and delicately, and opened it. It was typewritten, a sure sign that it was from Aria. She read it slowly:

Maya:

Athena and I were shocked and horrified to see you on the evening news this last week stupefying a courtroom of muggles. You can understand our surprise, as we had previously thought you were dead. If you are indeed Maya Howe, Please reply to this letter promptly: there is a whole room full of people who feel you owe them a damn good explanation as to why you have kept your presence hidden from us for the last half a decade.

Please Excuse the brevity and harshness of the note. As you can imagine, I am in a rather agitated state, and cannot be cordial at this time.

Aria Howe.

Maya folded the letter neatly, and then ripped it into several small pieces. She realized she was holding her breathe, and she let it out slowly, shakily. Her sisters. And a whole room full of people. Angry at her. They had all seen her. And if THEY had all seen her, she was sure the Deatheaters had seen her. They would be after her – they probably had already located her, maybe even followed this owl! She couldn't afford to send a note back – it might be intercepted. She had to leave quickly, and hide herself and her daughter. Her last parting thought before grabbing her belongings, her daughter, and apperating away was that she was running out of places to hide.

**Please Read and Review. Coming up next: Lupin and Aria go on a manhunt for the MIA Maya, Sev and Nozomi follow suit. I've got some good ideas for the end of this, so stay tuned! It'll have some good twists and stuff.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm just pounding these chapters out. I'm so proud of me. Keep the reviews comin, guys! I appreciate it!**

Los Angeles was dark: no one saw three people pop into existence in front of the courthouse where Maya had made her grand comeback into the world of the living. The trio walked up the steps, and the tall figure pulled out a wand.

"Alohamora!" Lupin said softly, and the lock on the front door clicked open with ease. Lupin opened the door, and crept inside, wand at the ready.

"Remus, I really don't think anyone is going to be about at this hour," Tonks observed, scratching her head. "It's close to two in the morning here, isn't it?"

"Closer to four, actually," Aria muttered. "Could you maybe look less like one of the punks off the street, and more like a cop?" She eyes Tonk's pink hair with disdain.

"A bobby? My pleasure!" Tonks transfigured her look into something that looked like a cross between one of the guards at the Queen's Palace and an old policeman from a Charlie Chaplin era film.

"Oh dear God," Aria moaned. "Where is my wand …" She hunted through her purse, and pulled a wand from its depths, looking at it like a snake. She waved it once or twice, and altered Tonk's clothing to be a bit more contemporary. "Now if anyone stops us, at least we have a police escort." She tossed the wand back into the purse. "For heaven's sake, put those wands away. We won't need them anymore." Aria huffed, and began walking purposefully down the hall.

Tonks shrugged, and winked at Lupin. They followed Aria without question for a moment.

"Aria, where exactly are we going? I mean, I doubt very much Maya is at the court this time of night," Tonks scrunched up her nose.

"Yes, but the courthouse will have record of her address," Aria said shortly.

"Good one," Tonks looked impressed.

"Yes. College education and thirty some years of working for the government has taught me how to locate files," came Aria's sarcastic reply. Tonks wasn't phased, but Lupin grimaced slightly.

"Where exactly will we find these files?" Lupin interjected before Aria's foul disposition became a full temper tantrum.

"Admin."

"Admin? As in administration?" Tonks was admiring the paintings of ancient judges that adorned the walls, and did not notice the bench in front of her as she walked. She tripped forward, and Lupin reached out and righted her promptly.

"Can you please refrain from falling all over yourself for ten seconds?" Aria hissed.

"Sorry mate," Tonks made a face behind Aria's back.

"Where exactly is administration?" Lupin reprimanded Tonks with a look.

"How should I know? I've never been here before!" Aria was growing frustrated.

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Tonks stopped suddenly.

"I don't CARE. You wanted to come along, so COME ALONG."

"No, wait! Look where we are!" Tonks pointed up at a sign overhead that read, 'holding compound' followed by an arrow. "I don't speak American, but I assume that means 'jail'."

"Very good. You get a prize." Aria snorted like an angry horse.

"Wait, I see-" Lupin nodded slowly. "Trevor is probably being held here, don't you think?" He gestured at the sign. "We might be able to find him, and I bet he knows how to find Maya." He looked eagerly at Aria.

"How on Earth are we going to get past the security in the prison?" She asked impatiently.

"You've been in the Muggle world too long, luv," Tonks shook her head. She and Lupin both pulled out their wands, and gave Aria a look. Lupin's look was one of gently humor, and Tonks seemed aghast that Aria had forgotten about the fact that they could, in fact, use magic as an aid.

"Fine," Aria spat. "We can look. But if he's not here, I'm going to be really pissed off." She began stalking down the dark hallway. "Spending the night in jail was not my idea!"

The holding compound turned out to be more of a shot-term cell block for inmates whose trials were in process. There were fewer than 20 people in the compound, so it was relatively easy to get past the two guards stationed there. It was also fairly simple to locate Trevor, apperate into his cell, and place a silencing charm on the room.

"He's asleep," Tonks said unnecessarily.

"No shit. Wake him up," Aria pointed.

"Why me?" Tonks hissed at her. "You've actually MET the guy!"

"But you're dressed like an officer, so he won't think it's weird for you to be in his cell waking him up!" Aria shoved her jerkily towards the cot.

"Tonks, please," Lupin smiled warmly. "It would be a great help."

"Fine," she rolled her eyes. "For YOU. Not for HER," she jerked a thumb at Aria, who had her arms folded tightly across her chest, a disgusted frown plastered to her face.

Tonks leaned down, and shook Trevor lightly. "Trevor! Trevor, wake up!"

Trevor started, and flipped over. "Uh!"

"Whoa there," Tonks jerked back.

"Officer? What's going on?" Trevor sat up slowly, his eyes narrowed in half-sleep.

"Actually, I'm Tonks."

Trevor sighed. "Alright. Officer Tonks. What is it?"

"No, not officer Tonks, although maybe they should start calling aurers officer-"

"Oh for Christ's sake," Aria pushed past her. "Trevor! She's not an officer she's a friend of Maya. Remember me? Aria?"

"Ahh!" Trevor jumped back. "What the hell are you doing here?" He looked closely at Aria. "Are you here to bail me out?"

"Are you kidding?" Aria scoffed. "I hate you."

"Thanks," Trevor answered wryly. "Nice to know I'm still on the family Christmas card list."

"Shut up," Aria said shortly. "Where's Maya?"

"Excuse me? How should I know? I'm in JAIL."

"Where does she live?"

"Why the fuck should I tell you? I hate you too. Always have." Trevor folded his hands in his lap obstinately.

"Trevor, please. We need to find Maya." Lupin came up and stood between Aria and Tonks. He spoke placatingly in an attempt to calm the agitated man down. "And as I understand it, you need her too."

"Aww, did she move and not leave a forwarding address to her little friends?" He gave Aria a look of mock innocence. He turned back to Lupin and said flippantly, "Why don't you just wait until she comes into court if you want to see her so badly?"

"Well," Tonks began. "We would, but she's gone, you see."

At this Trevor took notice. "Gone? Gone where? She killed Olga! She can't leave and pin this on me! I didn't DO it!"

"Who's Olga?" Tonks asked before Lupin could continue his questioning.

"My girlfriend. Or she was until Maya vanished her," Trevor said, real anger showing through his features.

"What do you mean 'vanished' her?" Lupin stepped forward.

"Just vanished her. You people and your magic … I don't know how the hell she did it, she just DID."

"Describe it," Lupin pushed.

"Well, we were on my balcony, and I gave Olga a gift. A piece of jewelry. And as soon as she put it on, she started transforming. Then my hot girlfriend was gone, and my irritated ex-wife was standing there."

"Well that's helpful," Aria huffed, and leaned, annoyed, against the wall.

"No, I think it is. I think that might explain where Maya was all those years." Lupin turned back to Trevor. "Trevor, this is very important. What was the jewelry that initiated the change?"

Trevor shifted in embarrassment. "It was a ring," he said slowly.

"Was it Maya's ring?"

"I don't remember," he said shiftily, avoiding Lupin's gaze.

"Trevor…?" Lupin looked at him scrutinizingly. "If you don't tell me the truth, I can always read your mind. I'm just giving you the opportunity to be honest."

"Fine, yes! Yes, it was Maya's ring, okay? The creepy, greasy guy that you all seem to like so much gave it to me after he told me that Maya had supposedly died."

"You gave Maya's ring to Olga?" Tonks looked disgusted. "Isn't that like inviting a girlfriend to your wedding? Or putting family heirlooms up at an auction? Or –" She was interrupted by Lupin.

"Thank you Tonks, that'll do," He hid a smile.

"It was a shitty thing to do. Alright? I admit it. But come on, she was DEAD! AND, she turned me into a DOG, if you remember."

"Maya gave that ring to Harry when she faced Voldemort," Aria said suddenly.

"And told Harry to give it to Severus if anything happened to her," Lupin nodded. "I believe that ring was put on the wrong body."

"Oh Jesus," Aria breathed. "He was supposed to put it on Maya's body and bring her back to life!"

"How was Snape supposed to know that?" Tonks muttered. "That's the LAST thing any normal person would think of to do with a ring."

"Well, if that ring was a horcrux, clearly Maya's still wearing it, which means Olga isn't dead." Lupin said flatly.

"What? You can bring her back?" Trevor looked up with excitement.

"Let's put it this way," Lupin said. "Only one can exist at time. But technically, yes, we might be able to bring Olga back." He saw Trevor's eyes light up. "But," Lupin cautioned, "we need Maya to do it. You have to tell us where she is."

"I think she lives in San Luis Obispo. It's a city about three hours up the coast by car. I don't know the exact address, but my attorney knows her phone number. If you come back in the morning, you can talk to him about it…"

"Too long. Where's your attorney's office? We'll get the information from there," Aria interrupted.

"March Street. 570, I think. Or something around there. His name is Kevin Landers." Trevor seemed absolutely rejuvenated.

"Great." Aria smacked Lupin on the shoulder lightly. "Let's go."

"Thanks for your help," Lupin said. "Obliviate!" The charm hit Trevor, and he was momentarily stunned. The three took that opportunity to apparate to the front of the courthouse, and begin their task of finding the law office of Kevin Landers.

**Tell me what you think! I love feedback. THANKS!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here we go! PS, Don't sue, I don't own it.**

Snape moped on the couch in the front room of Lupin's modest home. He hadn't slept since his arrival the night before, and had refused to eat anything but a cup of weak tea. The fire had long since died away, and the room was filled with a grayish light that leaked through the thin curtains that hung listlessly over the small parlor windows. His mind was beginning to churn over itself: as much as he had loathed the thought when he had first heard the news, there was a little voice in the back of his head, steadily growing stronger, that urged him to find Maya. He was successfully ignoring it so far, but he didn't know how long that would last.

He heard the door open slowly, and smiled inwardly. He recognized Nozomi's huge, clomping boots immediately, even if she was trying to be as quiet as possible about walking over to him.

"Severus?"

"Nozomi," he answered, not looking over his shoulder. She crept around the couch and sat on the far end from him. "Severus, are you alright?"

He finally looked over at her. She looked as if she hadn't slept all night either. The dark circles under her eyes were pronounced, and her hair looked greasy, as if she needed to wash it. Snape realized, with a bit of something that he couldn't decipher between pity and humor, that she couldn't 'scourgify' her hair and clothing clean the way the rest of them could when the opportunity to bathe did not present itself.

"Nozomi, why don't you go home," he said, not unkindly.

"Well," she began in a tone that he recognized as her own, "First of all, I can't pop in and out of cities like you can, and the trip from London back to Kent would be rather expensive." She raised her eyebrows at him. "Second of all, I'm very worried about you. You don't seem to be taking this that well. I stayed up with Hermione last night, and she told me the whole story-"

"I see no reason for you to be here, Nozomi. This situation is uncomfortable, at best, and I would prefer that you went back to school. If you would like, I will apperate you."

Nozomi looked frightened, and scooted over, closer to Snape. "No, I don't want to go! I want to help you! Have you thought about what will happen when you find this woman?"

"I doubt that we'll find her, especially since she seems so keen on not being caught."

"Okay, well, there you go. What if you don't find her. You'll be miserable. I can't just leave you alone to dwell in that. And then what if you DO find her?" She looked at him searchingly.

"And?" he prompted when she didn't continue.

"No, I'm asking you." She said, inhaling sharply. "I know how you feel about this woman, and I'm wondering what will happen when she comes back into your life."

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose and furled his eyebrows. This was the last moment he really wanted to have a sincere tete-a-tete about defining their fluxuating relationship.

"I don't know," he finally answered honestly.

"Do you still love her?" She asked pointedly.

"I think we both know the answer to that," he spat.

"What if she turns you down? What if she's already married, or has a boyfriend, or became a lesbian? Or one of those monks? Or-"

"Nozomi, what in the name of Merlin are you trying to ask me?"

"I just want to know if there's any hope for us!"

Snape closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the back of the couch. He felt something heavy rest on him, and he peeked down to see that Nozomi had leaned her head down to his shoulder. She slowly snaked her hands possessively around his arm. Her touch felt so comforting, so available and so present, and yet, he couldn't get Maya out of his head. And suddenly, he had made his decision:

"Nozomi," he sat up, detangling himself from her. "Listen to me. This is going to seem very cruel, but it's honest." She looked at him with large glassy eyes. "I'm going to find Maya. That idiot sister of hers won't be able to do it, and she'll end up making a mess of everything anyway." He took a deep breath. "I don't know if there is any future for the two of us together, because I love Maya. I absolutely hate having to admit it, but it's true, and I won't be able to have any sort of relationship with you, companion or otherwise, if I don't resolve this."

"And if things don't work out?"

"Then everything will be the same between us, and I will go on treating you horribly and acting the complete hypocrite while I tell the world there is nothing between us, and then take you out for drinks and make love to you in my flat." He managed a slight smile, and saw the hope in her eyes.

She laughed, and threw her arms around him, pulling herself into his lap. He, however, suddenly felt sick, realizing that she was certain that this ordeal with Maya would work out in her favor, while he had the guilty feeling as though he was having an affair behind Maya's back. He shook her off of him gruffly, and stood up. She looked at him questioningly.

"If you insist on remaining here, I suggest you make yourself useful. Come with me." She stood, and he grabbed her tightly around the back. She didn't even have time to look at him in confusion before they popped out of Lupin's living room and back into the front room of Snape's flat near Kent university.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()!#$&(()

Ron and Harry were engrossed in a game of wizard's chess. The afternoon drifted by quietly with the exception of the occasional marble on marble crashing of chess pieces.

"Where is everyone?" Ron asked to no one in particular.

"Aria went to California with Lupin and Tonks," Harry said, staring hard at a piece on the board. "Hermione went home for the afternoon, Ginny went back to work, and Snape is downstairs with his girlfriend."

"Why does Snape always end up with attractive girls while I'm still single?"

"Hermione is single," Harry reminded him.

"I know, I know," Ron muttered, reddening slightly.

"Oh, and I think Athena went to talk to her father and her niece about this Maya thing," Harry finished, and moved the piece he had been staring at.

"Her niece?" Ron asked, frowning at Harry's rook took out, quite literally, his knight.

"Yeah, you remember? Meena's daughter? I think her name was Leah."

"Oh yeah!" Ron remembered. "I remember her. Little girl. Bit annoying, really."

"Well, I think she's going to try to bring her here, you know, get the whole lot of them together for when Maya comes home."

"Hm. Good idea." And he quickly moved his rook to check Harry's king. "Check."

Harry would have sworn good-naturedly, but Hermione burst through the door carrying a stack of papers.

"Look what I've found!" she said happily. "I think I know just where Maya is. Or at least a way to locate her," she threw the papers on the top of the chess game.

"Hermione! Bloody hell!" Ron lifted the papers gingerly off the board.

"Honestly, Ronald." She took back her stash, and began flipping through them importantly. "I went back to my parent's house, and used the internet to search for her. If she's living in California in the muggle world, I figured she HAD to come up on a search engine. And she did! Of course, a lot came up from the unfortunate trial incident, but really, a lot can be learned from that…" she was talking very quickly, and Ron seemed extremely lost. Harry understood what the internet was, but was having trouble understanding what Hermione was so excited about.

"'Mione, what the-?"

"Just look," she said with exasperation. "Jasmine Von Tost was a real estate agent in San Louis Opispo. I have her address right here! We can go straight to her house in California!"

"I'm sure she's not still there," Ron began.

"Well of course not, but maybe she left a something behind that will allow us to track her down. And she can't really travel all that fast, to be honest with you," Hermione looked up, her eyes glittering.

"Hermione," Ron warned. "What aren't you telling us?"

"Look here!" and she threw down a small picture, of what they recognized to be Maya, holding a small dark-haired child.

"That's Maya, but who's THAT!" Ron demanded.

"Oh Ron! Isn't it obvious? Maya had a BABY!" Hermione snatched the paper away from him with disdain.

"She had a BABY?" Ron repeated incredulously.

"You don't suppose it's SNAPE'S, do you?" Harry made a disgusted face.

Hermione shrugged. "We can't know for sure unless we find her and ask, now can we?" She smiled conspiratorially, and looked at her two friends. Ron and Harry looked at each other, knowing full well a trip to California was in their future.

**Read and Review! This is just the finishing up of the lead up chapters - I know this stuff has been all filler-ific. But coming up next is when the action starts. PROMISE! Let me know what you think, or what you think should happen, or you know...just general stuff. THanks!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yeah, I know it's short. But it's sort of important. Conspiracy, and all. Read and Review!**

Athena walked tearfully into Lupin's home. A young girl of about 16 followed her. The trip to see her father had not gone well: Satinum Howe was as senile as ever, and it was difficult for him to even remember Athena, who was standing right in front of him, much less Maya, who had been dead for five years. Finally, in a frustrated rage, Athena had thrown up her hands, and stormed off the estate. She had gone to Meena's old home to speak with her sister's widower and her daughter.

Meena's husband, who had long since remarried, wasn't extremely eager to be brought back into the folds of his ex-inlaws' familial troubles. Athena let that go, but she felt it was important that Leah be a part of her mother's family. What Athena failed to realize was that Leah had always been glad that Maya had died. Leah blamed her mother's untimely demise solely on Maya: the tearful news that this woman was still alive and well was more that concerning to her – it was maddening. Maya was allowed to live somehow, while her mother was not? She was told time and time again that the world was not fair, but Leah would now do something about it. Not fair was one thing. Hitting her on a personal level was something else altogether. Yes, she would go to see Good 'ol Auntie Maya. She would go, and she would have her revenge.

The entire afternoon was spent coming up with ways to ruin this woman. Leah had grown up hating her, even when she and her mother were both alive. Meena had hated Maya, so Leah, in turn, had learned to hate her as well. Maya didn't play fair. Maya stole the men you loved and then ditched them heartlessly, or led them around, playing games. Maya manipulated and beguiled. And then she shirked her responsibility to the magical world by living as a muggle. Leah listened closely to Aunt Athena's emotional rantings, looking for a weakness in the armor that would bring Maya down. Apparently there was going to be tension between Maya and someone named Severus. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but Leah couldn't place it. There was also going to be trouble with the muggle government and someone named Olga Klanova. Leah cursed not knowing more about muggle current events so she might exploit this weakness.

Then a thought came to her. It was an awful thought, so terrible she almost laughed. Could she do it? Was she actually capable? It would be so perfect … only as a last resort, though, she cautioned herself. After all, she thought, I can't just walk in the door and kill the prodigal Maya, now can I? Keep it on the backburner…come up with something a little less messy. But if worse comes to worse, she decided biting her lip in excitement, Leah would kill Maya Howe.

**Wow, that was really short. The next one is longer. I promise.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay, this one is longer. **

Lupin, Aria and Tonks drove Aria's car up the coast to San Louis Obispo. Tonks was thoroughly enjoying the beach scenery, and Lupin was secretly enjoying Tonks' excitement. Aria, however, was all business. She effortlessly navigated the city streets, thanks to her GPS system installed in the car. Lupin was enthralled by the device, laughing out loud the first few times the pleasant voice on the machine spouted forth a directional change. The trio had obtained Maya's home address from the offices of Keven Landers, and had set off immediately. They had started the drive at around 7 am, but not before Aria introduced Tonks to the wonders of Starbucks coffee.

"Alright then, here we are," Aria pulled to a harsh stop on a quiet street near the beach. They all jumped out of the car, and stalked towards the home at the end of the street. A floor mat reading 'Von Tost' sat on the porch at the base of the front door. Aria took a deep breath, straightened the front of her suit, and rang the doorbell.

When the dead bolt clicked open, Aria held her breath …. And let it out abruptly in shock as Ron Weasley stood at the door.

"Hullo," he nodded. "I see you've found Maya's house as well. No need to come in, really, we've already looked, and haven't found much of any use."

"Ron, don't leave them out there! Bring them in!" Hermione called from the other room.

"What the hell are you three doing here?" Aria sputtered.

"Looking for Maya, the same as you!" Hermione's head emerged from around the corner. "I've got all we need here," she added. "I can basically sum up the last five years of her life through all of this." She held up a small packing box that seemed to be filled with papers and pictures and small trinkets.

"What on earth is all of that?" Lupin stepped past Ron and strode to Hermione.

"Just every day things, each of which tells us something about the life Maya has been leading."

Suddenly Harry appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Whoa!" He shook his head. "This one here's a portkey to Dublin!" He held up a beer bottle.

"A portkey? To Dublin?" Aria look horrified.

"Of course!" Lupin pulled out his wand, tapped the bottle to eliminate the portkey, and grabbed it to examine it closely. "I remember Maya had a whole sack full of portkeys to all different places."

"She had what?" Aria was fuming.

"All totally illegal, I'm sure. She used to skip class to visit Athena in Ireland with the Qudditch team, as I recall. Used to make Severus quite jealous…" he chuckled. "James and Sirius and I went out with her one time. To a pub on the East side of-"

"Remus!" Aria snapped. "Please."

"Well, it stands to reason that if she still has this old portkey lying about, I'm sure the rest of them are here somewhere… perhaps one of them leads us to where she has traveled." Lupin began wandering about the room, lightly touching anything that wasn't nailed down.

"But if she took the portkey, it would still be with her. " Tonks wrinkled her nose, but began touching objects all the same.

"It's worth a try, anyway," Lupin shrugged. They spent the next hour going through the house touching everything they could. Periodically one of them would disappear, and reappear a moment later, back from any one of the several pubs and coffeehouses Maya seemed to frequent all over the world. Once they were sure they had logged all the portkeys, they sat on the couch, exhausted and slightly disheartened.

"Well, Hermione, what else did you find?" Aria asked moodily.

"According to what I found throughout the house and on the internet, Maya Howe, aka Jasmine Von Tost, is a real estate agent here in San Louis Obispo. She lives here with her daughter, Brigid, and drinks a whole lot of coffee," Hermione thumbed through a stack of Starbucks credit card receipts.

"Maya has a daughter," Aria shook her head in disbelief. "Never thought that would happen."

"Why?" Lupin turned his head. "I was always under the impression she would make a great mother."

"She was always so … single. So solitary. Never dated a guy for more than a few months, as far as I knew."

"She didn't need to," Hermione said slowly, holding up a small journal, and reading it with furled brows. "Almost everyday she writes the same thing," Hermione looked up. "She misses Snape."

Ron coughed, and Harry smacked him lightly, though looked a little green himself.

"Poor Maya," Tonks sighed. "Missing Snape all those years. Not really fair, is it? And him being a father now, too."

At this, Lupin and Aria both whipped their heads around. Aria grabbed a picture of a young Brigid.

"Well, now, we don't know that the child is his, Dora," Lupin said slowly, not sounding as though he believed it himself. Aria raised an eyebrow at the picture.

"It's impossible to tell at this age anyway," she scoffed. "The child has black hair and pale skin. That's the only resemblance to Severus there is."

"Thank goodness she didn't get his nose," Ron said under his breath. Harry sniggered, and Hermione shot them both a silencing glare.

"Now wait a minute," Tonks said. "She was dead for quite a while…it couldn't possibly be Snape's child."

"Then again," reasoned Harry. "She did go from alive to dead to alive again, and we haven't quite figured out how she did THAT, now have we?"

"Horcrux," Aria, Tonks and Lupin said in unison. Harry, Herminoe and Ron looked taken aback.

"Trevor explained it to us," Lupin said. "That ring she gave you to give to Snape was a horcrux of her soul. Snape gave it to Trevor, instead of putting it back on Maya's body. Trevor gave it to –"

"Trevor gave it to OLGA?" Hermione gasped. "That's awful! That's like bringing a date to your own wedding!"

"That's what I said!" Tonks smiled broadly.

"Wait, Maya made a horcrux? So Maya is actually Olga Klanova." Harry stood, and began to pace.

"Right. All we have to do is pull the ring off her, and poof! Olga is back. Everyone is out of trouble." Aria rolled her eyes. "Problem is, then we don't have Maya again, we just have Maya in jewelry form."

"What is it with your family and jewelry?" Ron looked queasy. "First Evil jewelry that lets Voldomort control the world, and now a ring that controls Maya's soul? That's a bit creepy."

"It's also very illegal," Hermione put in. "It's a wonder she didn't get caught by the Ministry of magic the first time it was activated."

"Well, it was in the vicinity of a lot of dark magic, with Voldemort and all," Lupin reasoned. "That's probably why it didn't register."

"Yeah," Aria added. "And try as we might, Los Angeles and San Francisco are just HOTBEDS of unchecked magical activity. The political system over here is just ridiculous in terms of follow through with policy and law enforcement. A horcrux could have gone off three or four times before anyone cared enough to investigate."

"Well, we know how she got here, we know what she's been doing all this time, now all we don't know is where she is now, and why she's running away." Tonks stood and stretched, tipping a standing lamp in the process.

"She thinks she's being chased by Deatheaters," Hermione said mysteriously, flipping through the journal.

"Deatheaters? What? That makes no sense!" Harry took a seat next to Hermione to read over her shoulder.

"It makes perfect sense, Harry!" Hermione answered.

Lupin nodded. "When she left, Voldemort was gaining power. She hasn't been in touch with anyone for the better part of five years – she has no idea Voldemort has fallen!"

"She's worried that if she lets her location known, the Deatheaters will kill her, and Brigid, and all of us," Hermione was scanning the pages. "She's trying to protect us!"

"What a jolly mess we're in now!" Tonks rolled her eyes. "Ah, well, send her an owl explaining everything, and reel her back in. At least we know she'll be happy to see us. Snape, especially, since she's missed him so damn much."

"Actually," read Hermione grimly. "She assumes that Snape is dead."

Ron groaned. "Oh, this reunion WILL be fun."

**Where did all my reviewers go? Come back to me! Read this one, and give me some feedback. I thrive on feedback!**

**Next chapter has SNape in it again. And pretty soon they're gonna get back together! Woohoo!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm going to try to finish this one pretty soon. That would make me happy. Keep the reviews comin' - I love hearing from y'all! PS ... the only thing I claim to own here is Nozomi. Nothing else. I don't even own a COPY of Wings over America. (I did illegally download a copy of 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' though ...)**

**Flashback:**

Severus Sighed. He was sitting in his room in the dungeons of Hogwarts for the last time. School was over. Classes were over. His relationship with Maya was over. His childhood, at least what was left of it, was over. He had walked out of it in a depressed and angry haze, and he felt no different from yesterday, other than the fact that for the first time in his life, he had no idea what he was going to do when he woke up tomorrow morning. If he woke up. Part of him wished that he could just go to sleep forever.

He hadn't spoken to May since that night – that horrible, embarrassing night when she had turned him down, and run away. They had come to this crossroad together, and Severus felt more than a little betrayed when she seemed to breezily wave goodbye and walk down a path for which he didn't have a map. He grimaced and grabbed the poster of his bed tightly in his fist. He couldn't stop thinking or dreaming about her face: she was always telling him no … telling him she was leaving, and he was always watching her go. Of course, to be fair, she HAD lingered. 'Come with me,' she had said with naïve hope in her voice, as if he could just walk away from Voldemort. He gritted his teeth through the forced reminiscence: he willed her to be less stupid, more understanding of his situation. He closed his eyes tightly, wondering why he couldn't have fallen in love with a nice, calm, bland girl of good-repute, rather than the tornado of that obnoxious, yet enviable, combination of self-assurance and reckless, unchecked emotion that only comes from a life of leisure that was encompassed within Maya Howe. She could afford to have loved and lost, because she would undoubtedly love and loose again, he sickly doubted it would ever phase her. He let out an embarrassed growl. She would end up marrying some frivolous, careless man who treated her poorly, and then be crushed when it ended two or three years later. He didn't feel sorry for her. She would get even. And she would spend the years after that swimming through worthless men like a dirty lake, and ultimately finding that she was perfectly happy by herself. He had been deceived by her grandiose confessions of love: she couldn't possibly feel the torture he was enduring: he was beginning to think that she couldn't really feel at all. He stifled another growl by crashing his teeth together.

A knock came, almost timidly, at the door. He made no move to open it. Another knock, more forceful this time. There was still no one he wanted to see, so he sat, silently. There came no noise for a few seconds, and he almost sighed in relief, when he saw the door open a crack. He jumped up, and swung it open prepared to make a scathing comment about how rude it was to enter a room unannounced and uninvited, when Maya fell gently into him.

"Sev! Why didn't you answer the door?" she asked breathlessly. He just looked at her coldly. He felt a sense of satisfaction when he sensed the reticence in her stature. Her body language was stiff and frightened. Severus had succeeded in frightening the girl who had nothing to fear, and he felt a pang of malicious pride. He remained silent, and she bravely, albeit cautiously, walked into the room. "I just wanted to say goodbye, Sev. And here," she held out a box. "I brought you some stuff … yeah." She put it down on the bed. He still said nothing.

Maya, suddenly overcome, burst into tears, and walked jerkily to the door. "I didn't want us to hate each other, Sev! For God's sake, I LOVE you! You just had to go and muck it all up," she put her face into her hands and wept.

He couldn't believe his ears. Why was she always thinking about her damn self? "ME?" he said coldly. "I think you were the one who turned ME away."

"I know … and I'm sorry! But I didn't know what to do! I mean, come ON!" She was leaning against the door now. She looked up at him, and almost started crying again. Instead, she took a deep breath, and walked to the bed. "Look. I left you some stuff that I'm not taking with me. There's a record player … I know you don't have one … and some music …. And here." She held up something that looked like a miniature palm tree. "It's a portkey. It goes to my parents' house in California. If you ever want to find me, this will help you." She walked to him and touched him gently. "I do hope one day you will want to find me…" He looked away, and tears began to roll down her face again. She shook her head, and sniffed loudly, and walked to the door. "Goodbye Sev," she whispered, and left he room. As she shut the door she whispered lightly to the silent dungeon, "Please come find me …" It was the last he would remember seeing of her for over a decade.

He didn't want to look, but his curiosity got the best of him. He allowed himself the satisfaction of looking in the box without actually touching any of its contents. He knew immediately by the nauseated feeling in his throat that everything in front of him reminded him of her too much to ever actually use. He saw the memory orb in the bottom, and gingerly removed it from the tangle of ornaments in which it was placed. He said her name, softly, and immediately became preoccupied with the images that presented themselves for a brief moment. But that which stuck with him throughout the next day and the next week and the next month, only to be lost throughout his memory after years of careful denial was Maya's pleading voice ripping into his soul as she held up the ridiculous palm tree trinket: "If you ever want to find me, this will help you…"

**Present Day:**

"Did you find what you were looking for?" called Nozomi from the floor of Snape's flat.

"I believe so," Snape said quietly, shaking the memory of the last moments of childhood from his brain.

"What was it? Are you going to tell me?" Nozomi stared up the small hatch into the attic where Snape was levitating boxes down to her every few moments. Nozomi stole a peek through most of them, but had found nothing of interest so far. A stack of old letters from no one she recognized, piles of books of magical content which had been well-worn, and some assorted items that Nozomi couldn't begin to guess their purpose.

Snape dropped gracefully down the ladder into the main hall and slammed the trap-door without a word. A tattered box with a bevy of even more tattered contents floated silently behind him. Nozomi was too short to see what was in the mystery container, but she hopped along behind Snape in a most eager fashion. Finally it came to rest on a large table in the front room, and Nozomi peered into the box. She was immediately disappointed to see an old phonograph and several out of date, worn records. She thumbed through them, and noticed that most of them looked as though they had been repaired more than a few times. She pulled out a very dilapidated copy of "Wings Over America", and looked at it with a concealed smile.

"Didn't know you were a McCartney Fan. How very British of you." She smirked coyly. "Do you also have a copy of 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'?"

"I burned that one," he growled, and she suddenly realized he probably wasn't joking.

"Is this …" she paused, and looked harder. "Is this Maya's stuff? You've kept it for this long?" Nozomi raised her eyebrows. "Wow…"

"Believe me, I didn't find this remnant of ancient history for sentimental purposes." He quickly pulled out the records and the turntable, setting them aside. He turned the box over abruptly, and several smaller pieces of what Nozomi could only describe as 'junk' clattered to the table's surface. He stared long at them, and then cleared his throat. Nozomi looked up in concern.

"I'm going to find Maya," he said in a heavy monotone. "I won't ask you to accompany me."

"But-but I want to go," she stammered. He looked at her sharply. "Take me with you." Her voice was braver now, and her head tilted up with the strongest look she could muster.

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

"You're very stupid, you know," he answered back. She smiled, knowing that was his way of thanking her without giving away his gratitude. She reached for his hand, and squeezed it softly. His eyes didn't betray emotion, but she felt him squeeze back, if only once. "Very well." And he reached down, and grabbed hold of a small, faded, plastic palm tree. Nozomi was about to ask, when the room began to whirl in what was now becoming a familiar sensation.

When she set foot back on firm ground, she was standing on a soft, sandy path overlooking a quiet beach. The sun was high in the air, and a huge Victorian home sprawled gracefully in front of her. She gasped in surprise, and looked at Severus.

"Welcome to one of the many Howe family homes," he said simply. He dropped her hand, and began to trudge toward the house.

"What are we doing here? Where IS here?"

"Somewhere in California. I've only been here once before … Half Moon Bay, I believe it's called."

"They have an entire bay?" Nozomi squeaked.

"I don't pretend to know," he said rudely. "I haven't thought of this place in over twenty years."

"How do you know she's here? How do you know they still even own the place?"

"Something she said to me one night…" his voice drifted hypnotically over the sea air. His heart was racing, and he began to walk faster. The home looked deserted – there were no signs that it was even being kept up by magic. Nozomi's words rang true – this home had been Jaemara's pride. With her dead and Satinum's ensuing madness, not to mention Aria's need to remove all reminders of her fallen family, Snape wondered if the property had fallen into unknown ownership. He paused, and turned to face the setting sun: the waves lapped up on the shore, and a gull cried in the distance, and the part of him that knew Maya better than anyone on Earth felt like it had just come home. So he shielded his eyes, and continued toward the door, his forgotten companion following softly at his heels.

**What do you think? Hopefully you like it. Let me know! Thanks guys. Until later! (Maybe later tonight, if I can get my act together.) CIAO!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Yeah ... I WAS going to update that night, but my internet didn't work for a couple of days ... and then I bought a kayak and had a massage scheduled, so you know. Anyway, while the internet was down I managed to write a bunch more, so there should be like three more chapters on their way very soon. Let me know how you all think this is coming ... I know it seems like a really long time for them to actually get back together, but it's coming. ... believe me ... it's actually just around the corner. In fact, the reunion is WRITTEN, I just need to post it. So keep reviewing!**

The house was lit warmlyby the setting sun streaming through the untouched curtains. Spacious and still, everything in this home had been untouched for years: even the air was stale. It was abandoned, with cobwebs and a thick layer of dust draped over all surfaces. Snape glided wordlessly into the front room, and began to search for signs of Maya. Nozomi stayed well out of his way, glancing with uncomfortable interest at the pictures on the walls. She had seen the animated wizarding pictures before when her cousin sent her postcards from his travels through China, Japan and Malaysia, so she wasn't surprised to see the people in the portraits snoring lightly or shifting around in their slumber. She scrunched up her nose: the pictures had been alone for so long, even they had grown bored, and gone to sleep, or, in some cases, left the frames completely. More than half the frames surrounded pictured of vacated, empty spaces.

"Severus?" Nozomi looked up when she could no longer hear Snape rustling through the house. She quickened her pace and turned a corner. She saw him staring, shoulders slumped, out the bay-window to the sea. "She hasn't been here, has she?" Nozomi whispered softly, reaching out, but afraid to actually touch him.

"No one has been here," he answered shortly. She noticed a paper in his hand, and crept up to glance at it. He was right: the date at the top of the untouched copy of the Daily Prophet said November 26, 1989. He threw the paper savagely and suddenly down on the top of the piano he stood near. A picture woke with the commotion.

"Oi! Be careful with that! Jaemara will have your head if you scratch the wood on this thing," a man said sleepily. "Say, who are you anyway?" He was a young man with long, flowing hair. Nozomi looked at him closely, and thought in passing that he looked like a modern version of Jesus.

"What does it matter?" Snape growled at the man.

"Well, I guess it doesn't, I'm just curious. I'm Patten Von Tost, Jaemara's brother." He waved good-naturedly.

"Jaemara has been dead for close to three years now. I doubt very much she'll care about the piano," Snape spat with a malicious sneer.

"Excuse me?" Patten looked confused.

"Perhaps if you hadn't been asleep for the greater part of the last decade, you would have been informed." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Nozomi gave an apologetic look to the irate photograph, and dashed after Snape. She ducked through a doorway, and found him staring once again,this time at a huge family portrait. This one wasn't moving, and it seemed dead against the wall in comparison to the multi-dimensionality of the surrounding photographs.

"Why isn't it moving?" Nozomi asked timidly.

"Painted by a muggle artist," Snape answered shortly.

"Is that Maya?" she asked carefully.

Snape nodded. He pointed up to each member of the family.

"Satinum," he pointed to an older man with bifocals over eccentric eyes and an educated stare of superiority. "Jaemara," he motioned to an attractive, youngerwoman leaning affectionately on Satinum's shoulder. Surrounding them were four women in varying stages of adolescence. The eldest was a round brunette, with an austere hairstyle and a pinched, important smile. Below her was a smiling, happy blonde with rosy cheeks and dimples. Standing behind Jaemara was an icily beautiful girl with tendrils of wavy hair falling like a waterfallaround her shoulders. Her complexion was perfect, and her eyes were piercing. Snape pointed to them in turn: "Aria, Athena, Meena…" he trailed off, and gazed at the remaining member of the portrait: a young girl who Nozomi assessed to be sixteen to eighteen years old: a sprightly blonde with a carefree grin. "And Maya." He dropped his hand, and looked at the painting with extreme interest.

"She's very pretty," Nozomi began.

"She always was," he agreed sadly.

"Tell me about her," she tried again.

"There's nothing left to say about her," he finished gruffly.

"You must have something to say about her," Nozomi pushed. "Or we wouldn't be here, in her old house, staring at old pictures of her." Nozomi wandered to the coffee table, and opened a small drawer. She pulled out a stack of old pictures, and began to shuffle through them. Suddenly her blood ran cold. She hid her shock with a low whistle. "You never told me you were married," she said, trying to keep her tone light, and non-accusatory.

"I've never been married," he snapped, and then realized she must have seen something that brought her to that conclusion, and he looked at her expectantly. She held up a photo of Maya in awedding gown. He snatched it up and stared hard.

"Then what the hell is this?" Nozomi raised an eyebrow. "It sure looks like SHE got married."

"She did," he growled. "To Trevor Wraid."

"The bloke in the tennis player trial?" She was surprised.

"Nozomi, for an intelligent woman, you are insufferably slow."

She gritted her teeth. "No one has taken the time to explain this little soap opera to me, Severus. How I am supposed to know that your girlfriend married someone else, who then killed a tennis star?"

"She was certainly not in a relationship with me when she married that sorry excuse for humanity," he spat vengefully.

"I should hope not," Nozomi said. She began to flip through more pictures, all of Maya's wedding. "When was this?"

"I assume it was a few years after she left me," Snape said dangerously.

Nozomi shook her head. "She must be something pretty amazing for you to put up with all of that and still love her," she said almost nastily. "She leaves you, marries someone else, and then pretends to die and doesn't talk to you for five years? You're more of a romantic masochist than I am!" She tossed the pictured back into the drawer, and slammed it lightly.

"Nozomi, I don't see any further need for your presence here," he looked at her coldly. "Go home."

"I CAN'T," she snapped. "I'm a MUGGLE. A boring, stupid, not-blonde, not-rich, not-Maya-Howe MUGGLE. Remember?"

"Take a bus." He folded his arms across his chest menacingly.

"Across the Atlantic? Steller idea, PROFESSOR." She folded her arms to mirror his stance, and stared daggers straight back at him.

"Did I not make myself clear enough?"

"Stop trying to intimidate me! I'm not your student right now! I'm trying to be your friend!" she cried desperately.

"You're trying to be my mistress," he accused.

"I'm trying to understand why you keep shooting yourself in the foot where thiswoman is concerned!" She threw her hands in the air. "No, not even! She's holding the gun, and you keep stepping into the line of fire! How many of these shots have you survived?"

"Enough to be unsurpassed in my ability to take a bullet." He narrowed his eyes.

"Before all of this came up, you had emotional limitations, sure, but I figured it was because you had higher aspirations in your career, or something like that. I thought you pushed me away because I distracted you from your work." She swallowed angrily. "Glad to find out it was another woman all along."

"As much as it may pain you, grief is, in fact, more powerful than your … insistence," he drawled.

"Stop grieving!" She shouted, a little louder than she had expected. "Let it go! Leave all these pictures here … leave everyone in their frames, undisturbed …" she waved her hands around to emphasize her point. "This is becoming an obsession. A holy grail crusade, and all for what? For an old girlfriend who doesn't really seem to be showing much interest in seeing you anyway? This is going to end badly, and it's going to bury you." She narrowed her eyes at him in angry concern.

"You are trying my patience," he growled in a dangerous voice that Nozomi had never heard before. His eyes went completely black, and she had to fight to not be frightened.

"I know you miss her. I know. And if you could somehow bring the memories you have to life, then maybe I'd understand. But you can't, Sev, you just can't! This is growing tiresome and ridiculous."

"If I could bring the memory to life..." he snorted, and stalked past her to a smiling picture of Maya on the wall. It winked at him mercilessly.

"Why do you want her so bad?" she wailed.

He whirled on her and drilled holes into her head with his eyes. "I'd bring her back, at least to say goodbye," he breathed passionately. He made fists with both hands so hard that his knuckles cracked audibly.

"Severus! That's the old thought process coming through. You want her out of force of habit. You can do better. You can have someone real." She stepped up to his stiff figure.

"There is no change great enough," he said heavily. "She's a constant representation of better days in my life."

"She's taken everything from you, Severus. And she left you. Alone. I hate to put it that way, but that's what it looks like to everyone else."

He faltered. "I need to talk to her."

"You're being a martyr! Let it go ... start with those records of hers. Throw them away. Those songs aren't speaking to you anymore…they're just songs."

Snape's eyes flashed, and he stomped past Nozomi back to stand in front of the painting, his robes billowing against his back as he strode.

They stood in silence for a moment, and she boldly continued, not knowing exactly when he would reach a breaking point, or what exactly he would do when they got there. "I know this is hard," she began.

"You have no bloody idea how hard it is!" he bit back. "_I'm_ the great love of _your_ life, and I don't even care about you!"

His words hit Nozomi like a slap in the face, and her temper flared. "That's no different from you – Maya doesn't care about you either. If she did, she wouldn't be running away from you."

"Silence," hebit.

"You need to turn back," she said, ignoring him. "It's time to change, Severus. Come back with me. You can start over, and years from now, none of this will matter." She held out her hand to him, but he had stepped up to the painting, and had his hand pressed against it lightly.

He didn't look at her, but shook his head lightly. "My dear, it is far too late in the game for me." He looked at her, and saw her heart break through her eyes. He felt his breath catch in his throat, but he forced it down. "Surprised?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Believe me, you're the only one." And heaverted his eyes from what he knew would soon be a weeping woman's face. "Your outbursts are exhausting. If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone, now." He said it with such finality that he almost regretted it when he heard the hitch in Nozomi's sharp intake of breath.

"You can't live for anything else, can you?" Her voice became shrill. "You can't do anything with yourself but moan about this woman! That's absolutely pathetic… that's worse than me."

"Perhaps," he said, giving her one last look. "At least you of all people understand the desperation of holding on." And he set his jaw tightly. "Maya's not here, I was wrong. I'm going back to London." He began to walk toward the front door. He didn't hear her footsteps, and he paused. "Are you returning with me?" he asked without turning around.

"No." She said simply. He looked, and saw her standing alone and small in the middle of the huge room. "No, I'm not."

"As you yourself pointed out, you do not have the ability to apperate. I would suggest returning with me."

"Just leave." Her statement was cold. "Don't worry, I'll take a BUS." And with that, her features crumbled, and she choked loudly.

"Nozomi-"

"Get the fuck out of here NOW!" She screamed suddenly, and ran out of the room. She threw herself on a parlor couch in the next room and cried bitterly into the cushions. She heard a pop as Snape apperated back to London, and sobbed louder. She didn't remember falling asleep, but she must have, because she woke up several hours later in the dark, confused, hurt and completely alone.

**Oh Shit. Snape keeps losing his women. Alright ... I'm going to take the kayak out one more time before the sun sets ... I'll be back in a few hours. I'll be obnoxious and set an ultimatum ... If I get a review, I'll post the next chapter ... well, I'll post it anyway, in the end, but a couple of notes and messages would be specTACular! Off to the Beach!**


	21. Chapter 21

**As promised, here we go again. Thanks to Princess Aerith for the VERY prompt review. You rock.**

Nozomi shivered, and reached down to pull the blanket around her body more securely. When her groping hands failed to find any sort of sheets, she groaned in her sleep, and rolled over for better access. Her body hit the hard back of the couch, and she immediately stiffened, and opened her eyes, fully awake. Her pupils adjusted to the dark, but she found that she still couldn't see anything to determine her location. Slowly, she sat up, and the previous hours came to her in a blur. Severus. Maya. The old house in California. He had left her. She was alone. Panic began to creep up her throat, and she suppressed it with a loud breath. He wouldn't have left her here. Sure, popped away, but then popped back to find her after he had cooled off. He wouldn't justABANDON her in California with no way to get back to England! She looked around her, and remembered with a sinking feeling that she had left her purse back in Snape's flat near the University. Her wallet, her cell phone, her identification … all thousands of miles away. She felt like crying, but shook her head violently to send the urge away. This was a house, after all. There were definately worse places to be stranded. And, she reminded herself,she was sure Severus was waiting for her in the next room.

She stood, cringing with every loud creak of the wood floor. She felt around the wall next to her for a light switch. She fumbled for a moment before remembering that this was thehome of amagical family, and lights probably just came on automatically when someone walked in a room. Or you needed a wand to activate it or some such nonsense. She pouted in frustration, and took a few tentative steps towards what she could barely see as being an outline of a door way.

The hallway was dark, and Nozomi's feet made tiny padding noises across the hardwood. She couldn't see anything, and she kept her arms out in front of her in case she were to run into anything …. or, God forbid, anyone. Huge empty house ... someone had to be lurking here … 'Stop it!' she screamed at herself. 'It's a house. That's all. Not haunted, not frightening, just a big, dark, house.'

Not comforted in the slightest, she inched towards a glowing bit oflightness that she saw peeking around a wall about ten feet from her. When she turned the corner into the main front room, she sighed in relief. The huge bay windows elicited graying moonlight through the panes onto the floor. Nozomi took in her surroundings. The room, which had looked lonely in daylight hours, looked morose and forgotten in the moonlight. And, she noted without real surprise, Severus was not sitting on the couch waiting to take her home. The portrait, however, still hung above the mantle, the six face smiling down at her. She couldn't look them in the eyes – their faces seemed so contort into evil, knowing grins in the night. She turned and walked quickly out of the room towards where the front door had been. One more hallway, she thought desperately in the dark, I know it's here somewhere …

The hallway deposited her, instead, in yet another pit of blackness, with thick curtains drawn. There was a door on the opposite wall …. Was it a closet? Nozomi, thinkingin alarm that she could easily get lost in such a massive, dark house,ran to the door and grasped the handle. Locked. She whirled, fear getting the best of her, and raced from the room. Down the hallway she burst, but this hallway veered right, and seemed to spiral around and down. 'No!' she screamed in her mind. 'I don't want to go DOWN! I want to go outside!'

Suddenly, the corridor came to a halt at a dark wall. Nozomi turned the corner, and saw her salvation … a tiny bit of flickering light. Moonlight! She practically skipped toward it, but her stomach did a flip when she turned the corner to see the actual source of her supposed escape route. One more room. One more dark room with no exits. Only this one had three large candles on a table againstthe near wall. Three large candles that were lit, and burning slowly.

Nozomi whimpered, frozen in fear. This was not Severus's doing – he wouldn't have tried to scare her to death before actually finding her. There was someone else here.

"Don't move," a low voice came from somewhere – no, everywhere – in the room. Nozomi closed her eyes tightly. "If you move, I'll kill you." Nozomi found that she was breathing rapidly. She was no where near a wall or a door, and she felt exposed and vulnerable. Her hands were shaking, and her muscles were taught. She tried to breathe, but couldn't get enough air. The voice came again, and Nozomi thought it must be the room itself. The room was trying to kill her, and if she moved, it would swallow in on her.

"Who are you?" the voice asked angrily.

"Umm," she searched desperately. 'Who am I, goddammit? Come on, Nozomi, think – Nozomi! That's right!' "I'm Nozomi," she said in an uncertain voice.

"What are you afraid of Nozomi?" The voice seemed more confident now, and almost taunting. The candle flickered ominously.

"I just want to go home," she said honestly. "Don't kill me."

"Why not? You're here to kill me."

"No!" Nozomi begged. "I don't want to kill anybody! I don't even know where I am!"

"Stop," the voice was harsh. "I don't want to hear it. I'm going to kill you, and everyone else you brought with you. Where are they?"

"I'm by myself."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not! I swear!"

"Accio wand!" The voice demanded harshly, and the air around Nozomi whirled tightly, blowing her hair around her face. She whimpered loudly, not knowing what the command meant, and certain she was going to fall over dead any second. Tears streamed down her face, and she fell to the ground, grabbing her knees protectively.

When the magic in the room died down, the voice spoke again, sounding a bit more human this time. "Where is your wand? Do they expect you to kill me without one?"

"I don't have a wand. I'm not a witch!" Nozomi cried.

"Then WHY are you HERE!" The voice boomed with impatience.

"We were just here to find the woman who lives here. I'm sorry! Please, just let me go home!"

"You said you were alone!"

"I am …. The man I was with left. I don't know where he is, honest!"

"Well, Nozomi," the voice said quietly after a lengthy pause. "You found her."

Nozomi looked up into the dark. "What?"

The candles grew brighter, and more flames appeared on candlesall around her. She looked up, and saw a figure sitting stiffly in a chair across the room. As the illumination reached a maximum point, Nozomi could make out that the figure was a woman with a hard stare, pointing a wand directly at her. "You found the woman who lives here." The woman looked angry and determined, but shook her head slowly. "Who are you? You're just a child, for God's sake."

"I'm nobody. I'm just Nozomi."

"Nozomi," the woman made no move to stand. "Nice to meet you." Her voice was clipped and pursed. It didn't sound as though she thought it was nice to meet her at all. "I'm Maya Howe."

Nozomi's eyes went wide, and she looked wildly at the woman sitting across from her, still pointing her wand tightly in her fist. It did, indeed, look like the young girl from the portrait, with twenty years plastered to the features. "You're Maya?" she whispered, and Maya nodded.

"Who sent you? If you're a deatheater, you're the worst deatheater I've ever seen," she snorted.

"I'm not a deatheater. I'm not even a witch. Nobody sent me. I came here with Severus Snape." Her features didn't change, but the wand in Maya's hand faltered slightly. Nozomi saw this, and continued quickly, her words tumbling out of her mouth. "He had this old portkey that brought us here, and we were looking for you, but you weren't here, and he went back to London, and left me here-"

"You're not a witch and he left you here?"

"Yes, well, we had a bit of a fight, you see," she faltered.

"A fight? What?" Maya stood, her wand still pointing ahead. "Don't move." Maya rustled through the desk near her, and brought out a small vial. She levitated it over to Nozomi. "Drink this. It's veritaserum."

"What's veritaserum?" she said nervously. Maya laughed a little.

"If you're telling me the truth, then it isn't anything that will hurt you," she said pointedly.

Nozomi twisted off the cap, and poured the liquid down her throat. It was rather bland, but it was cold and felt good on her dry pallat.

"Now," Maya began, settling back into her chair. "What's your name? Why are you here?"

"Nozomi Osuda. I'm here to find Maya Howe," she said automatically. She was surprised by the hypnotic quality of her voice, especially when she didn't feel any different after drinking the mixture.

"Are you a muggle?"

"Yes."

"How do you know Severus Snape?"

"He's my teacher," she said. She was about to continue, but Maya cut her off.

"Where does he teach?"

"Kent University."

"A muggle school?" Maya cocked an eyebrow. "Are you going to kill me or Brigid?"

"Yes, a muggle school. I am not going to kill you, and I don't know who Brigid is."

"Are you working for Voldemort or the Ministry of Magic?"

"No."

"Do you knowwho Voldemort is?"

"Yes."

"Is Voldemort trying to find me, to your knowledge?"

"To my knowledge, Voldemort is dead."

Maya dropped her wand. "What?"

"Voldemort is dead," Nozomi repeated in confusion. She watched uncomfortably as Maya stood and placed her wand on the desk next to her. She took a few slow steps towards Nozomi, andlooked her in the eye. Nozomistiffened, waiting for a barrage of questions. She wascompletely unprepared when Maya grinned wildly, and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman in a deep, greatful hug.

**Yay, they found her. The End ... no, just kidding. Heh ... no. I'll update soon, so stay posted. Same bat time, same bat channel. Tell me what you think! REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello hello hello. Back again, jiggity jig. And in case you're getting antsy, here's the breakdown: After this chapter, Maya goes with everyone back to Lupin's place, and everyone gets back together! Oh yeah, and Nozomi finds better things to do with her life. :) Let me know what you think!**

Nozomi sat in the upstairs dining room with Maya, quietly sipping a cup of tea, eyeing this seemingly long-lost woman. This woman looked ... motherly. Not like girlfriend material, she decided. And yet, in the competition between her and the matronly being in front of her,Nozomi was quickly losing Severus's affection.

"I'm very sorry about earlier – you must have been terrified." Maya was speaking in a tone that suggested distraction and feigned interest in her young house guest. She was holding a teacup without bringing it to her lips, and looking out the window over the ocean.

"Where were we?" Nozomi returned uncomfortably.

"This house is strange – it's very old, and was magically altered by my…" she paused give an almost imperceptable fond smile and eye roll, "rather ingeniously melodramatic father. There are hidden rooms all over this place that you can only get to in certain circumstances. That particular room can only be found when you're feeling frightened and looking for haven."

Nozomi could hardly believe her circumstances. She was beginning to think this Maya woman was crazy. Or, she, Nozomi, had gone crazy somewhere during the magical pop that took her direct from Britain to the Pacific Ocean. She wanted to pout, but instead forced conversation. "Why were you there?"

Maya looked at her sharply, but immediately calmed. "I've spent the past five years hiding from Voldomort. As soon I sensed someone was in the house, I was able to go there directly." She sipped her tea calmly - it was a soothing and aromatic blueberry-darjeeling that she had become quite fond of over the years. "So tell me now … how did you get messed up in all this? I mean, I got the owl from Aria, but I was expecting her to show up in person, or Athena, not someone like YOU … no offence."

"Well, I'm student at Kent University, where Severus teaches."

Maya gave a bemused smile that festered below a suspicious brow raise. "You call your professors by their first names? Things have gotten more casual since I was a student."

Nozomi blushed a little, and stared into her cup. "Severus and I are friends," she tried to explain.

"Ahh…" Maya nodded, and turned back to the window. "I was sure he was dead. I figured Voldemort would have, well, you know." Her voice trailed off darkly and delicately, but Nozomi muscled over it with her harsh accent.

"Yeah, he's alive and well. Aria and Remus and Tonks went to Los Angeles to find you, and I think Ginney and her friends were on the trail as well-"

"Remus Lupin! How is he?" Maya's demeanor changed, and her eyes began to shine.

"He seems fine, I suppose. Granted, I never met him before this week, so I really don't have a basis of comparison."

"What about everyone else? Sirius Black? Did you meet him?"

Nozomi shook her head with a shrug.

"Ah, well. Doesn't matter. Voldemort's gone, and Sev's alive…" Maya smiled with true happiness, but the smilefell quickly into worry."Oh dear. Voldemort's gone and Sev's still alive." The full weight of this knowledge hit her hard. "They're all quite mad at me, aren't they?" She asked finally.

"I'm really not the right person to ask," Nozomi said. "I only got into this on accident."

"Yes, well, I suppose I should send them an owl then, since there's no danger in it anymore," She seemed wistful and uncomfortable.

"You really should go see them," Nozomi interjected a little rudely. "I mean, I don't know any of them, but when they saw you on TV, it was like everyone jumped into a bloody panic. I think it would just ruddy piss 'em off if you didn't at least make THAT effort. I mean all you have to do is that popping thing, right? Not like you have book an airline ticket and go through customs," she grumbled.

"Who is 'they'?" Maya asked, putting her tea back on the table.

"Well, Remus and Tonks, and your sisters are quite emotional over the whole thing. And Harry and Ginny and the other two …. I can't remember their names off-hand. Severus, of course."

"Severus wants to see me?" Maya asked quietly.

Nozomi sighed sadly. "He hasn't said so, technically-"

"No, that really isn't his way," Maya smiled sadly.

"But I think that he quite sick over it, to be honest." Nozomi leaned her head to the side and looked at the floor. "You really should come back."

"You don't sound so sure." Maya looked piercingly at her.

Nozomi forced a smile. "Don't mind me. I have my own selfish motives. Without you, I can't get home!" And she held her breath to bottle her emotions.

Maya went upstairs to wake Brigid. The room was dark, and the girlwas sleeping soundly. It would be a pity to throw her into a roomful of ranting, raving people she had never met – but this moment was ineviteable.Maya sat heavily, and thought about it: she had always known that one day Voldemort would be defeated, and she would have to go back to England. Wait, no … she would be ABLE to go back. She was confused – she was excited, but full of dread. It was so much easier to just stay here in California. There was no fear now. No more reason to run. Her life had just unfolded into near perfection.

But at the same time, Severus was alive. She admitted that she had thought about him every day. But this young woman who seemed tangled into his life (to what degree Maya wasn't sure, but she had her suspicions)was concerning. She couldn't be his lover, she was his student. And she had to be at least fifteen years younger than he was. At least. Maybe she had a crush on him … Maya let out a snort. She had seen Severus in the classroom. It would be almost impossible to develop a crush on that demon-creature that somehow got a job molding the minds of students. And still, something was amiss….

She looked around the room, her old room. This was the first time she had sat in this chair and looked out this window in a long time. The last time was over twenty years ago, when she had curled up, and had a very similar mental conversation with herself. It was, incidently, the last time she had seen Severus Snape before purposely forgetting him for over a decade.

FLASHBACK:

Christmastime had always been a favorite time of the year for Maya. She had just finished her first semester of college in California, and had apperated to her favorite pub in Scotland to visit some old friends and have a pint. She popped into existence behind an old hotel that was almost always empty, and began the three-block trek to the pub. It was snowing lightly, and the air was crisp and cold. She could see her breath in front of her, and she tightened her coat around her – she had come from the60 degree winters of California, and was excited to be back in a white, wintery wonderland. She quickened her step, and turned a corner.

She was greeted by a horrible, blood-curdling sight. The pub she was heading towards was gone. All that remained was a pile of rubble, still smoking. It looked as though a bomb had gone off. Confused, sobbing people were strewn throughout the street with various injuries. The ambulances were just arriving. Maya walked, wide-eyed through the debris, wondering what on Earth had happened. She made her way to one of the officers taking a report.

"Officer! What's going on?"

"Arsonists," he said shortly. "Whole building up in flames." He shook his head, and turned to help one of the EMTs. Suddenly, a flash of light forced everyone to turn and look toward the heavens, where a huge green snake writhed in smoke in the air through a shimmering skull. Maya stared, stunned.

"Deatheaters!" Someone said in alarm.

"Deatheaters?" Maya whirled around. She saw a young girl with a deep gash down her face. Despite the grime, Maya recognized her immediately as one of her aquaintences: a waitress in the pub. "Lisel! Deatheaters did this?"

Lisel nodded. "Oh, Maya!Did you see it?" She knitted her brows in concern. "Why would they do this?"

"I didn't know the Deatheaters did stuff like THIS!" Maya motioned to the building in horror.

"That's ALL they do, Maya. Bloody terrorists! Usually no one even knows what they want." Her face crumbled, and she put her face in her hands. Maya was suddenly assailed by the unignoreable urge to run far away from the United Kingdom. She turned and ran back the way she had come, stomping soot and blood through the whiteness of the snow. She ducked behind the hotel to apperate away – and almost tripped over a man lying in the dirt and ice. She stifled a scream, and looked closer. She couldn't deny it – it was Severus Snape.

"Sev! Sev! Oh my God! Are you alright?" Maya dropped to the ground and rolled the unconscious boy on his back, praying that he wasn't dead. He moaned loudly, and she almost choked in relief. Her happiness was short-lived however, when she noticed a deep purple welt appearing on his head. "Severus! Wake up! I think you need to go to the doctor!"

He barely managed to open an eye. "Get away from me – I'll kill you!"

"Severus! It's me! It's Maya!"

"Maya's gone," he muttered.

"No, Sev, No! I'm right here! Let me help you!"

"NO!" he swatted her away forcefully. "Leve me be!" His speech was slurring, and Maya was sure he had some sort of massive head injury. She grabbed his flailing arms.

"Severus Snape! Listen to me. It's me! It's Maya! What happened?"

"Lucius-" he managed.

"Lucius did this to you!" She seethed.

"Arggh! Get out!" His eyes flew wide, and he tried to jump up, but only managed to fall into the snow.

"Come on," she grabbed him tightly as he slumped his weight into her, and she apperated them both to her home in California. She dumped his heavier form unceremoniously on the bed in her room, and ran for some water and a cold compress. She came in a short moment later with her mother, looking very concerned.

"I just found him! I think someone hit him over the head with something. What should we do?"

"Can he speak?" Jaemara asked.

"He can, but he isn't really lucid. He didn't even recognize me!" Maya ran her hands through her hair nervously.

"Well, give him the old compress for now. I'll go for Doctor Talba." Jaemara hustled out of the room. Maya sat next to Severus, and pushed the cloth over his wound.

"Maya," he croaked out.

"Sev? I'm here, Sev, I'm here!" she cooed shakely.

"You're not Maya," he began, but threw his hands over his head as if in pain.

"I am Maya! I am! Are you in pain?"

"I have to go!" He suddenly tried to jump up again.

"No!" she squealed and pushed him back down. "You can't!"

"I must … the Dark Lord, he calls to me-"

"The Dark Lord … that Volde-whosit character you were so sweet onlast year?"

"Woman, let go of me!" He growled, and she sat up abruptly.

"Severus, it's me, dammit!"

"Get off of me!" His voice was still slurred, and he seemed almost drunk. She was worried that his injuries were much more serious than she had originally believed. He looked closely at her then, and blinked a few times. "You are Maya," he slurred.

She nodded emphatically.

"Well then fuck you," he said loudly.

"What?"

"You … LEFT me!" He said slowly, as if processing each word. There was still no recognition in his eyes.

"I didn't want to! You were so angry, I was afraid of you!"

"You should be afraid of me," he asid darkly.

"I am! If you had anything to do with the pubbeing … blown up …"

"I did it," he said with conviction. "They had to be punished!"

"Severus! Stop it!"

Severus suddenly fell back into the pillows, exhausted. "I can't stop," he managed weakly.

"Yes, you CAN!" Maya stood. "Why do you need them?"

"Go away," he said weakly.

"Stay with me," she pleaded. "You'll be safe."

"You left me!" he growled. "You couldn't be bothered to get your hands dirty. You're weak, and I won't be a part of your denial, your-your ignoranceof your true calling!"

"My calling? Blowing up pubs should be my CALLING? Are you insane!" She felt angry now, angry and betrayed.

"You're not Maya," he said finally with a twisted smile of loathing. "Maya would have cried if she saw me this way-"

"Oh, I've already cried for you. For the last time. The LAST time." Maya turned her back from him, and stared out the window to the churning, angry winter waves.

"She's off somewhere, taking the easy way out. In her house on the beach, at school with a bunch of children-" Severus's voice was growing fainter and fainter, and his eyes were beginning to roll back in his head. He raised his arm, and seeing the dark mark glowing brightly, he moaned in pain, concentrated, and allowed the dark mark to whisk him back across the ocean to Voldemort. Maya turned at the noise, and saw that he was gone.

"Severus! SEVERUS!" She yelled his name into oblivion angrily. "This is your loss, Severus. I know you better than anyone, and I know how your mind works. You say that you hate me now, but you won't hate me tomorrow. And when you finally figure that out, it'll be too late to come get me. So congratulations, Severus, you finally got rid of me!" She screamed until her lungs were burning, and sank into the chair angrily. She hated him. HATED Him. How could he do that? Turn into someone she didn't even recognize, someone she feared? He wouldn't even listen to her - in the course of six months they had both fallen in over their heads, and now Gods knew how they would turn out alright in the end. She watched the waves for hours, wondering how this had happened, and when her mother returned with the doctor, she found an empty bed, and the sleeping, tear-stained face of her daughter, and a waning candle that danced shapeless ofrms against the dark wall.

That would be the last time Maya would see Snape for years to come, and when it came to the next morning, Severus didn't even remember that he had seen Maya at all the night before.

PRESENT DAY:

Maya heard Brigid sigh, and looked over at her.

"Mommy? Are we going somewhere?" Brigid said sleepily.

"Yeah, sweetie, we're leaving right now. Wake up," she smiled at her daughter and rose to sit on the bed near her. Brigid rubbed her eyes with a yawn.Maya had made her decision – she wanted to see Severus, to touch him and hold him. She had already lost him three times before, and it had taken her so many times to realize that truely, she never wanted to leave him again.

**Ugh ... Sev had a bad time in that one. Ah, well ... c'est la ive, non? Read and Review! (And, as promised to my Jessie, Nozomi is history pretty soon. I'm getting tired of her too.)**


	23. Chapter 23

**HERE IT IS! The moment you've all been waiting for. HAHA! (I myself am deeply ashamed that it took this damn long.)**

"Alright then, let's go before I lose my nerve," Maya said as she dumped her suitcases in front of Nozomi.

"You don't want to go back?" Nozomi, who waspouting on the couch, looked up over folded arms at theolder woman in front of her .

"I do," Maya sighed in resignation. "But it would be so much easier to just …. live my life out here."

"What about Severus?" Nozomi tried to keep her face stoic, but a flicker of hopeful emotion was betrayed in her eyes. Maya saw it, but ignored it.

"Yes," Maya answered slowly, "what about Severus?" She plopped down next to Nozomi heavily. Nozomi shifted. This woman was annoyingly indecisive, she thought, daring to shoot a frustrated glare in Maya's direction.

"You need to see him," Nozomi pressed, bringing her expression back to neutral as Maya's eyes shifted towards her.

"I know – I want to, I do. I'm just rather worried about the whole affair."

"Why!" Nozomi sputtered, fed up. She had put up with weeks of Severus mooning over this woman, and now the woman in questionwasn't _quite _sure thathe would be interested? Nozomi wanted to scream.

"Because!" Maya looked at her with furled brows. "Look at me! I have nothing to offer him anymore! I'm just …. Me." Nozomi started to protest, but Maya stopped her. "I know what you're going to say – and I know, it makes sense, but I don't think you understand the whole story behind our relationship."

"No, all I hear about is how wonderful you are," Nozomi said, her voice dripping in disdain.

Maya closed her eyes, as if in pain. "When we were younger, Sev and I had a simple, school-days relationship. I'm sure you had several;you know what kind I'm talking about. The 'first love' that you assume you'll spend the rest of your life with, and every day will be as passionate as that first kiss." Maya rolled here eyes. "Well, usually these things come to a natural end – they just fizzle out because people grow older, and they grow apart. Instead, we had the extreme misfortune of being separated by an oncoming war and the Atlantic Ocean."

"But none of that should matter, because you still-"

"No, no …. I don't know that we do." Maya looked away sadly, and Nozomigritted her teeth.If Maya hadn;t intereupted her, she was going to point out that 'you could still apperate to wherever the other one was'. Instead, Maya assumed she was goingto say that they still lovedeach other, and the simple misunderstanding drove Nozomi to the point of wanting to strangle Maya. She didn't have the chance, however, because continued to talk: "In a way I'm thankful – had we gotten together when we were your age" (Nozomi cringed at the age reference, but Maya didn't notice) "we would have been divorced a year later, and it would have been miserable for everyone involved. As it was, we ran into each other again after we had both grown up, and discovered that we still enjoyed each other's company. But honestly, I don't know that we would be in love again, and I'm afraid that if I see him, one of us may have that expectation and be horribly disappointed when it doesn't work out." She sighed heavily.

"Well, I'm sure Idon't know what to tell you," Nozomi kicked her boots up on the coffee table in front her petulantly. "I don't know you from anybody else, and clearly I don't really know Severus well enough to be an authority. But, you can't just run from everyone forever. That would be stupid. Especially since they've spent so long trying to find you." She paused. "What is it that you're worried about him not liking, exactly?" Nozomi asked a little to eagerly,trying to disguise her hopewith seeming curiosity.

Maya took the bait, never even suspecting that she was fueling Nozomi's growing hope for a passionate reunion with Snape. "Severus isn't a lonely, surly child anymore."

"No, he's a lonely, surly adult." Nozomi corrected, and Maya smiled. Nozomi didn't smile back.

"Well, that may be true. The difference is, lonely surly teenage Severus easily fell in love with confident, spoiled, wealthy blonde girl. Adult Severus won't be so easily fooled. I'm not as attractive as I was at sixteen. I'm close to forty, for heaven's sake!I have bags under my eyes, and an extra twenty pounds hiding on me somewhere. I'm not wealthy anymore – from what I've gathered, my 'prestigious' family titles and airs have been all but destroyed. And all that youthful energy I once had just turned into something far less enticing over the years." She paused and regarded her fingers. "I'm a middle-aged, single mother with a real estate business. I don't even have an interesting, exotic, checkered past to make this lifestyle an achievement …. With a few shining exceptions, I've had a rather uneventful life."

"Then why the fuck is everyone so interested in finding you?" Nozomi exploded. "Remus, Harry, the Redheadedblokewho's name I can't remember, Severus, your sisters …. If you're all that uninteresting, why do they seem to care so damn much?" Nozomi stood, and began pacing. "I could be sitting in a lab at the University right now, dripping chemicals into test tubes, minding my business, smoking a cigarette, having a turkey sandwich, and then watcing 'Keeping Up Appearances' re-runs. But no – everyone in the world is looking for Maya Howe, so I joined in too … lucky me. I'm the one who found her, and she just wants tocomplain aboutwhy everyone should hate her!"

"I don't think anyone should hate me," Maya corrected tartly. "I'm just trying to explain why I'm nervous about meeting Severus again!" She stood and grabbed her suitcases. "I'm sorry to be such an emotional burden," she snapped in annoyance. "Brigid! Come on! We're going!" She stalked out of the room shaking her head, and Nozomi slank after her in embarrassment. Brigid hopped after the two of them. Maya took Brigid in her arms, and grabbed Nozomi roughly by the shoulder. There was a pop, and the house was empty once again.

Maya did not like Nozomi Osuda. It wasn't a open loathing by any means, and she really didn't have any reason – Maya feared the elitist Brit in her was making a re-appearance, so she tried as hard as possible to avoid a confrontation.

It was her manner, Maya decided. She wore all black, with huge black boots and an unflattering haircut. Her accent was uneven, as if English was not her first language, but instead a language taught to her in childhood by a teacher who spoke in a rather poor version of a Welsh/Cockney dialect. Maya snorted mentally. Blech. And what was with kids these days and wanting to dress like the grim reaper? Her life could not possibly have been ALL THAT BAD. She rolled her eyes. Maya had always made fun of Severus for his dark wardrobe choices as well, but at least HE had the decency to have an authentically dark personality. Nozomi, Maya felt, was trying a little to hard to be noticed by her professor.

And that attitude! Maya cringed again, and asked herself when it was, exactly, that she had grown into her mother? She decided to stop thinking about Nozomi. Why her presence was even necessary was beyond her, and she hoped she would go home soon.

"Mommy? Where are we?" Brigid pulled at the hem of Maya's jacket. They had apperated to Diagon Alley, and exited through one of the many portals to Muggle London. It was foggy and dark, and Maya was trying to focus on the road ahead of her – one foot in front of the other – so she wouldn't lose her nerve and turn back.

"We're going to see some of Mum's old friends," Maya answered distractedly. She hustled Brigid along, not checking to make sure Nozomi was still keeping pace with them poutily, three steps behind.

"We've got to turn at the next street," Nozomi said loudly.

"Are you mad? Grimmauld place is THAT way," Maya didn't look back, but kept walking.

"Look, I don't know where Grimmauld place is, but that Lupin fellow lives at 138 Brom Street." Nozomi stopped abruptly in the street, entirely annoyed. She found Maya to be altogether repugnantly full of herself and condescending. Just because she has a child, thought Nozomi bitterly, doesn't mean she has to treat everyone else as if she were their mum!

"They're not at Grimmauld place?" Maya asked in confusion.

"Brom Street," Nozomi confirmed through clenched teeth.

"Very well then," Maya clipped, and took off down a different path. "Brom street is much closer than Grimmauld anyway."

"Thank GOD," Nozomi murmered to herself, and kept walking.

It seemed like no time until they were standing in front of 138 Brom Street. It was a small flat in various hues of beige. Maya raised an eyebrow and dropped her bags. This was it – once she walked in there, there was no going back. She took a deep breath, contemplating if she would actuallybe ableto go through with it, when Brigid bounded up the steps and rang the doorbell. Maya reached a hand out, but it was too late – the bell had gone off inside the house. Maya froze, and watched the shadow near an upstairs windown start down the wall towards the door. She turned, but Nozomi was just strolling up behind her. No where to run - she had to face everyone.

Remus Lupin unhooked the latch on his front door, blissfully unaware of who stood outside. The door opened, and he saw a woman about his own age standing at the bottom of the stoop. Her hair was a ruddy color, and floated gingerly around her head in the cold wind. She looked up at him nervously, and pulled her stylish jacket around her body. For a moment he wasn't sure who he was looking at, until her voice broke the silence.

"Hello, Remus. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Lupin's face broke into a grin, and he hopped down the steps blithely.

"Maya!" He reached her and took her hands roughly in his own. She gave a small smile of confirmation, and he threw his arms around her gently. "What are you doing here!"

"I don't know," she said honestly with an emotional laugh.

"Oh my –" He looked into her eyes for a moment, and then pulled her into another embrace, this one which she returned fiercely. "I'm so happy to see you," he muttered into her hair.

"You too," she whispered. When she finally let go, and took a step back, Lupin sighed with a smile.

"Well! I suspect you'll want to come in and see everyone-"

"Wait," she stopped him with a hand. "I don't know – I mean, it might be a bit too much, don't you think?"

"Nonsense," he replied. "They've been sick over the whole affair."

"Mommy? Who's this?" Brigid pulled again at her mother's sleeve. Lupin looked down in surprise.

"This is Remus Lupin, Brigid," Maya said slowly, reaching down to pick up her daughter, never taking her eyes off Remus's surprised reaction.

"Very nice to meet you, Brigid," he said slowly.

"You too, Mr. Lupin," Brigid said shyly, and hugged Maya tighly.

"This is what I mean," Maya nodded her head at her daughter. "Too much too quickly, you know? I don't want to scare her."

Lupin nodded. "Yes, yes. Very well. You can rest up in the guest room for tonight. I'm sure it's getting close to Brigid's bed time anyway." He said meaningfully.

"Yes, it is-" Maya nodded. "Once she's asleep, I'll come down to see everyone." She managed a weak smile. Lupin picked up her bags. It was then that he noticed Nozomi.

"Oh! Nozomi! I'm glad you're back. Ginney was terribly worried when she found that you were gone. And then when she found Severus had left you in California, she almost killed the poor chap," he chuckled half-heartedly. "They'll be glad to know you returned safe and sound." He turned, and Nozomi glowered at his back. They ventured into the house, and Lupin immediately led Maya and her child upstairs. Nozomi bit her angry tongue, and walked into the kitchen.

Indeed, as Lupin had said, Severus was standing, arms crossed over his body, in the middle of the room while a very irate Ginny Weasley stared at him from the table.

"Now I shall have to go fetch her! What were you thinking!"

"It was in fact SHE who sent ME Away, Ms. Wesley. If you be so kind as to remove the accusatory tone from your voice-" He stopped suddenly when Nozomi walked into the room. "You'll notice that Ms. Osuda has made it back on her own."

Ginny whipped her head around. "Nozomi! Thank Goodness! How did you get back?"

"I apperated," she said shortly, glaring at Snape.

"With who?" Ginny pressed.

"The owner of the home was only too happy to oblige me, as she was traveling to the same place I was." She noticed with some delight that Snape's features twisted slightly into something akin to furious surprise.

"Well thank goodness for THAT," Ginny began, and then stopped. "Wait, don't tell me that Maya brought you back here?"

"She's upstairs," Nozomi said with certain exhaustion. Snape had hardened his features back into something unreadable.

"If you'll excuse me," he said silkily as he walked gracefully from the room. As soon as the door had closed, Ginny looked at her friend, who, without warning, burst into tears.

Brigid had fallen asleep, and Maya was watching the fog roll in around the small statue in the garden. It was technically a fountain, but it had long since been empty of any clean, flowingwater. It had the same look of neglect that everything around Remus usually had, she noted. The house had been silent since she arrived, and she wondered where on Earth everyone could possibly be: If Remus had told Aria of her arrival, she knew shewould have come barging through her door already, demanding an explanation. And where was Severus? Of course, the last time they had reunited after a lengthy absence, he had avoided contact with her until she had hunted him down and caused a rather embarrassing scene in front of his classroom. She felt fairly secure that wouldn't be the case this time, but she still wanted to see him. No, that was a lie. She was crawling out of her skin to see him. Finding out he was alive after all these years was quite a jolt; she figured he must feel the same way, but as always, he was much too proud to come seeking her out. Luckily, she thought to herself with a quick glance in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable, I don't have that kind of weird, mental block that he seems to have developed. She scrunched her nose. She had gotten older in the past five years, definitely. Thanks to her hair stylist and a lot of dye, the gray was unnoticeable, but the crows feet around her eyes were pronounced. She thanked Merlin for her gym membership as she pulledhercoat around her, and then fluffed her hair as if to say, 'here goes nothing'.

Maya cautiously opened the door to the hall, and stepped outside. There was no one around, and she crept quietly to the staircase. She peered over the railing to the floors below, and seeing the coast was clear, ventured down to the floor level. She heard voices to the right of her, in what she guessed was the kitchen, so she snuck to the door and pressed her ear to it. She heard portions of Nozomi's horrifyingly choppy accent and another young woman – either way, not Severus. She moved on to the living room where she saw a warm fire in the hearth, and comfortable furniture sprawled throughout. The curtains were drawn, closing out the cold, London fog. Maya walked closer to the door, and peeked her head in. Her breath stopped in her throat: someone was in the room, sitting quietly on one end of the couch, staring at the fire. She watched for a moment. Could that be him? She calmed herself. Long, dark hair could just as easily be Sirius Black or some other wizard that she wasn't aquainted with. Hell, she thought, it could be Nymphadora Tonks. But just when she was a bout to move on, the figure reached out a hand, grabbed a glass of brandy, and savagely swished it. He glanced at the glass, showing just enough of his face for Maya to bite her lip. She knew those hands. She knew that profile. She had dreamed about them for the last five years.

Maya wrapped softly on the door.

"I don't want to be disturbed," he growled without turning around.

Maya smirked. She knew most people ran in fear at the veiled threat in his voice, but she could never find it in herself to be intimidated by him. The advantages of seeing a man grow up, she thought. She smoothed her coat and stepped into the room as confidently as she could manage. She stifled a nervous giggle as she saw Severus grip his snifter tightly in controlled annoyance.

"I'm sorry professor. Would there be a better time for me to return?" She paused for good measure. "Perhaps in another five years?"

And the normally so controlled Severus Snape dropped his now empty glass of brandy.

**Oh ... a cliffhanger ... I'm not nice ... but, well, I've got tickets to the midnight premier of Pirates of the Caribbean 2, so I gotta run. Gotta go get some rum, and stand in a line in the middle of North Berkeley. Fabu, non? Anyway-let me know what you think now that they're in the same room. More to follow hopefully this weekend. I PROMISE!**


	24. Chapter 24

**So I know this took forever, but my internet broke. Ah, well, as is life. Now it's fixed, and I've got practically the rest of the thing written, so here it goes.**

FLASHBACK:

Severus growled low in his throat. It was the perfect end to a perfectly awful year. Well, really, no more awful than every previous year of his life, with some notable exceptions. On the pleasant side, he had started a relationship – A REAL relationship – with Maya. They had made love one night, which seemed to have turned a switch inside both of them – now, at every opportunity, Maya was finding excuses to touch him or wrap herself around him. The degree of her need for constant contact annoyed him at first: he was a private person, and it irked him to have her squeeze his knee under the desk during charms class, but the actions had grown on him, and he was quite content.

He, Severus Snape, and Maya Howe as an item: That had caused quite the stir, he smirked to himself. It had been made public on a Saturday, he recalled. A Quidditch game, to be exact. Snape had gone to watch, and was sitting with Lucius Malfoy who clapped politely with each play. The game was close, with Ravenclaw just edging ahead of Slytherin by 20 points. After what seemed like ages, the snitch was caught, and Slytherin won – which quickly became an unimportant point when Maya flew to the Slytherin stands on her broom, grabbed Severus's scarf in her gloves, and pulled him to her, meeting him a celebratory victory kiss. When she winked and ducked away to rejoin her teammates, Severus ignored the stares from everyone around him. He chanced a glance at Lucius through strands of hair, only to see the blonde boy raising an eyebrow at him knowingly.

And now it was the end of the year. There was a small party in the dungeons to celebrate the end of the term, which he was expected to attend, mostly because Maya was going to be there. There was an assortment of food, dancing, and someone had snuck in a large amount of firewhiskey.

Severus lurked about the party, darkly following Maya as she made her social rounds. Finally, when it seemed that everyone had been exhausted of conversation, she turned to Severus, and put her arms gently around his neck. He ran his hands lightly down her body and brought them to rest on her hips. She leaned in and kissed him once, and then again. He was aware that they were in the middle of a large group, so he protested slightly, and then much more vocally when she pulled him tighter and began to kiss her way to his neck.

"Maya, please. As much as I enjoy that, now is not the time," he pulled himself from her, and straightened his coat.

"Severus," she swatted him playfully. "Life is too short to be worried about 'the right time'!" She smiled coyly.

"Life is long enough to wait until we return to one of our rooms," he said under his breathe in retort.

"Oh come now. I'm completely under control," she said. She turned to the beverage table and levitated them over two tall glasses of beer – real Irish beer she had imported directly from her favorite pub for the occasion. She took a sip of hers, and then placed her free arm around Severus's neck once again, unphased by his look of warning.

"If I tried to stop you, what would you do?" He said curiously.

"Would you really try to stop me?" she asked low and seductively, leaning in slowly for another kiss.

"Perhaps," came his response when she was only centimeters from his mouth.

"Oh!" She pushed him playfully, and rolled her eyes with a smile. "Severus, it's a party! Time to have FUN. It's vacation! We can release all that nervous tension that's been clouding the air since exams. One last night of glory before everyone goes home for the next few months.

"What do I care about everyone else?"

"I don't care if you care or not," she said frankly. "Here. Take this." She handed him the other floating glass of beer. "Come now. A toast!"

"What are we toasting to?"

"Three months of freedom. Three months of new experiences. Three months of getting away form here." She was about to drink when he stopped her glass.

"Three months of not seeing each other."

She looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, don't toast to that."

"I don't find the end of the year worth toasting," he scowled.

Her features softened. "Drink to the last year. Drink to seeing each other next fall, and anytime I can sneak out of the vineyard this summer." She paused and listened to the music. "Drink to this song. May it always remind you of me," she said importantly. "Listen to it this summer, and think about us."

"I don't have a phonograph, nor do I have any interest in buying one."

"Fine," she said in exasperation. "Then drink to the weather. We had a beautiful sunset tonight on a beautiful summer day, and tomorrow the sun will rise again. And again the day after that. And sooner or later, it'll rise on the day that we all come back." She nodded in finality.

"You don't care, do you?" he accused darkly.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "I just want one night without all this misery." She looked at him closely. "You know I don't want to leave you. It's really bad for me too, you know, but life goes on. And everyday can be great, or it can be terrible. But really great days end much more quickly than terrible ones."

"True."

"So, if we both have a summer full of great days, it'll seem like no time at all until we're back together next fall." And she clinked his glass forcefully, and drank from her cup. He reluctantly followed suit. She smiled, and took him by the hand, and they walked up the stairs to his room for one last night together.

**Read and review! I'm gonna add another chapter right now, actually, so nobody get mad that the little well-placed flashback doesn't really answer the previous chapter's cliffhanger.**


	25. Chapter 25

**OK, this is the real enidng to the cligghanger. Fun times!**

PRESENT DAY:

The breaking glass of the snifter pulled Snape out of his shock. He cursed at himself – he had been mentally preparing to see her again, and the sound of her voice broke his stoic concentration. He quickly waved his wand over the mess to vanish it into oblivion, taking care not to look at her.

"Another five years, and one of us may not be alive," he said raggedly.

Maya couldn't stand it any longer, and dropping all traces of her bravado, she strode quickly to the back of the couch, and lightly placed her hands on Snape's shoulders. He jerked at the touch, and Maya pulled her hands back as if they were on fire.

"Please, Severus, before you get angry with me, I just want to look at you," she breathed. She leaned over the couch slightly, and gently took the side of his face in one hand. When he didn't protest, she brought it slowly over his shoulder to face her. When their eyes met, they locked, and Maya stared down at him. He refused to let his eyes reveal anything, but secretly he had never felt such a jumble of horrible emotions all at once. There she was, the same woman he had always known. She was older now, to be sure, but he barely noticed anything but her eyes, pale grayish blue and glittering. Whatever kind of magic she had performed with soul and body swapping for her to be standing in front of him right now, she still had finally managed to get rid of Aunsten Von Tost's horrible bug-like yellowy eyes. These eyes, Maya's real eyes as Snape remembered them form very early in their acquaintance, were clouded with hope and despair and confusion and need.

Finally he broke the connection and looked back at the fire. "Do sit down. I can't have you looming behind me like a banshee."

She quietly came around the couch and sat next to him, closer than he would have liked for the sake of comfort, but near enough to smell the subtle perfume that radiated from her. He recalled the vanilla scent of her childhood, and was not unpleasantly surprised to find that the vanilla had remained, though he was relieved to sense a lighter, more mature concoction of scent.

"Severus," she began. He was bold enough to look over at her in the firelight. "Severus …."

"What is it, Maya, that you have to say to me now that couldn't wait another five years until our next meeting?"

The venom in his voice took her aback. "I'm not leaving, Sev," she responded in confusion.

"You always leave," he said pointedly.

"I had to leave! I was sure that Voldemort would kill me!"

Snape laughed darkly, and without humor. "That's your excuse? Voldemort had a price on the Potter boy's head for YEARS, and he still managed to come to SCHOOL every day. Don't think for one minute I believe that pathetic drivel."

"Severus, I thought you were dead! I thought he had killed you!"

Snape turned his head in unmasked anger, and grabbed Maya's wrist roughly. "You thought I was dead?" She nodded. He paused, and then said dangerously, "An intelligent assumption. I made the same assumption about you, but where as you had no basis to your theory, I actually WATCHED you die."

There was silence, and then she spoke through her shame. "I didn't want to come back if you were gone," she said finally. "I didn't care about anyone else."

At this, he dropped her wrist and turned away. "You're right. You don't care about anyone. And neither do I. In that regard we're quite perfect for each other."

She placed a hand softly on his knee, and left it there even as she felt it stiffen. "Severus, please. You don't understand how strange it is to be here." She paused. "And all I want to do is touch you."

"You had that opportunity five years ago. And fifteen years before that."

"And I threw it away! And now I'm trying to fix it! Please, Sev. Just look at me!" He turned, and saw the desperation in her eyes. It was almost intoxicating, as was her quivering lower lip. The shock of seeing her again was slowly wearing off, and it was becoming difficult to fight the urge to reach for her.

"Why did you leave," he asked.

"I was afraid," she answered.

"If your urge is to run away every time you get uncomfortable, I don't want anything to do with you," he said coldly, feeling his face inching slowly towards hers.

She just shook her head slowly. "I've missed you –" she began, tilting her head a little. "Forgive me?"

She looked almost relieved, and he was far too annoyed to let her win that easily. "No," he said quietly, turning away from her.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Please, Severus. Don't do this. I haven't seen you in so long-"

"And you seem to have done just fine. As have I. So there's no reason for either of us to change."

Maya sighed in exhaustion. "You know," she began after a long, quiet moment. "Every day that I wasn't with you I imagined how it would be if we were able to meet again. That if somehow you had survived, and were alive, and we ran into each other, what it would look like." She paused again. Neither of them moved. "Each time it was different, but it was always passionate and romantic and … and you wanted me, and I wanted you too. Ever since I saw you again five years ago, Severus, I knew that I wanted to be with you. And when you were gone, it seemed like the end of the world."

"You adjusted just fine, I think." He interjected darkly.

"No," she answered pointedly. "I've just gotten very good at letting you go. It was a skill that I needed in great abundance when we were younger."

"As I recall," he seethed slowly, finally hazarding a glancing sneer in her direction, "You were the one who left me." He waved over the decanter of brandy to prepare himself another nightcap. He was unaware that he had just crossed the line of her patience.

Tired, frustrated, and nervous, Maya finally broke down the barriers of emotions. She jumped up, snatched the brandy out of the air, and threw it forcefully against the wall where it smashed in a spectacular display of shimmering glass shards and dark splashes.

"Here we go again. Always the same fight. Who left who …. I don't bloody fucking know anymore. You think I left you, I think you left me …. Jesus Christ! It was more than two decades ago, and we were CHILDREN, Severus, just kids! Normal people get OVER these things!" She stood right in front of him, and he calmly, dangerously raised an eyebrow. "Can I just stop us now, and skip to the end of this? It never turns out any different anyway!"

"I'm glad you feel we are so well-established in our relationship that we can fall back into familiar patterns. By all means, let's go to my bed now, and you can walk out on me in the morning. Or perhaps sooner, if you're so inclined-"

"Why bother with the time-consuming sex? You've already started pushing me away, I wouldn't want to interrupt." Her voice was scathing, and she had her hands on her hips.

"I can't push you away if you're already gone," he snapped back.

"How can I actually LEAVE someone who isn't there to begin with?"

He looked at her with a cruel smile. "This fight has gotten much better with practice."

"Oh, LOADS better," she snarled. "Hardly three insults in, and it's already so much better than the LAST time you ruined my life." She turned, and stared at the fire resolutely.

"I ruined YOUR life?" Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Stop pretending to be so Goddamn calm," she threw a look over her shoulder as she stalked towards the window on the far wall. "We both know it's bullshit, so don't bother."

"If you'd like me to get angry, you're going about it the right way."

She leaned against the wall and peered out the window. "Good."

Snape found this reaction annoying and infantile. He stood in turn, and walked to the other end of the chamber, staring daggers at her back. "I see age has taught you no self-restraint," he said with as much disdain as he could muster into his voice.

She whirled around to face him, and threw her hands up wildly. "Fuck you!"

"That's lovely," he drawled. "But can you, for one moment, act your age? I'm around children all day. I don't need to be around one now. You have no reason to be angry with me. Stop yelling and carrying on like a ninny."

"I guess you're angry enough for the both of us then?" she returned nastily.

"Age brings a certain degree of resentment."

"Yes, but stop resenting me for what you think I did to you when I was eighteen years old!" she wailed. She walked toward his rigid form, and ran one hand through his hair softly. "Stop living in that moment. I wish I could get inside your head and sand-blast those memories out of there." She continued to comb through his hair, and he leaned slightly into her hand. She took a step forward, and looked into his eyes. "I wish you could relocate your mind to a pleasant place." His eyes clouded over. "Or, at least somewhere more neutral," she muttered, amending her statement.

"I'd like to watch you try to find something that you deem acceptable."

"Anything is fine," she answered softly, closing more distance between them as she spoke. "Anything where you aren't incurably sad and hating everyone around you." She paused, and put her other hand on his chest. "Forgiveness is a virtue, Severus."

He shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Forgiveness is a luxury."

She brought both hands down to wind through the front of his robes. "That is such an old excuse. You can't live in anger forever."

He looked her in the eye. "Yes, so much better to live in denial."

She held her chin up. "Denial is easier than misery."

"Not for me."

She sighed, and leaned her forehead on his chin for only a brief second, and then looked directly back at him. "Yes," she smirked. "You're much better at being a bloody reaper of negativity than I am. Than anyone, really. Congratulations."

There was a hint of a smile that crossed his lips. She saw it, and he knew that she caught it. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, and looked into his eyes.

"It's been a long time," he murmured, the warning in his voice evident.

"Don't tell me it's too late," she said, inching closer to him. He swallowed, and caught one last look from her eyes before he grabbed the front of her coat savagely and pulled her to him. He kissed her hard and angry, and he felt some satisfaction from the whimper that ensued from her throat. He felt her wrap her arms around his neck, and grab his hair tightly in her hands, trying to devour as much of him as possible. He broke the kiss to breathe raggedly, and took a deep inhalation of her scent. He kissed her neck and face wildly, gathering her body in his arms. She crumbled into him, letting him explore with his hands and lips. She moaned loudly as he descended back to her lips, and pressed against them forcefully. Five years of caressing went into that one kiss – all the touching and teasing he should have been enjoying with her in places other than Lupin's front room came to him in a rush, and he held her ferally as he kissed her hard and fast.

"Severus," she managed. He ignored her, but she became more insistent. "Sev! Stop!"

He looked up her as if she was speaking another language.

"Lock the door," she murmered, looking at him with the same reckless abandon he felt within himself. He turned to look, and realized they were in the parlor. He slowly shook his head, lunged at her, took hold of her, and apparated them out of Lupin's home and back to his home near the University.

**Uh oh ... here we go. Alright, too tired for more editing. I'm sure this thing is a mess of grammer and spelling crapiness. I'll fix it tomorrow. READ AND REVIEW! Tell me what you think! Havn't had review in a while and I love them, so you whould all jump on the reviewing bandwagon.Yay!**


	26. Chapter 26

**New one up. Here y'all go. Enjoy, and give me reviews! I'm really goling to try to finish this thing by the end of summer. Wouldn't that be awesome? Alright. Let me know what you think.**

His home was dark, and a bit dank from lack a rainy bout that had ensued in the last few days in his absence. The windows were stained with water spots, and there were chemistry and potions book strewn about the tops of all the tables, as well as some extra ingredients that had not been correctly placed away from his last potions venture. All in all, the front room was a frightful mess, and the boxes from the attic were still stacked in the hallway, giving the home a just-moved-in feel. They apperated to the front room, amidst everything, and Snape didn't even care that someone was invading his personal space in a state less-than-pristine.

He took her face in his hands, and kissed her roughly. He kept his eyes open to look at her the whole time, afraid that she might disappear at any moment. She had become a ghost: first after flitting off into the sunset during his formative years, and then again during the dark times with Voldemort. Her eyes were open too, staring at him intently as their lips met over and over again. He took a deep breath, and stood back from her. They were silent, and introspective. Finally, she collapsed her head onto his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and just held her. She ran her hands over his body slowly, and looked up.

"Would it be a terrible thing to say that I want you?" she asked softly. "It seems as though all I ever do is show up, fight with you, sleep with you, and leave."

"It is a bit of a pattern," he said with a hint of a snort.

"Remember back in school?" she smiled.

Snape rolled his eyes. "All too well."

"This will be different," she said, all humor aside. He quirked an eyebrow, and she forged ahead. "I'm staying, this time. If you'll have me," she added quickly.

He kissed her lightly on the forehead, and apperated them out of the living room. They reappeared down the hall in his modestly austere bedroom, and Snape ran his hand into her hair.

"What is this color?" he asked with a bit of a lip curl that made Maya burst out laughing.

"What's wrong with it?" she scoffed.

"I prefer the blonde," he sniffed.

"You just hate change," she retorted, but smiled shyly. "I've been meaning to change it back, actually."

"Wait here," he said mysteriously, and strode into his closet. He rummaged for a moment, and then emerged with several bottled of ingredients. He walked past her into the bathroom, and she followed in curiosity. She watched for a moment as he poured ingredients together, and waved his wand over them for a bit. After a moment or two the potion came to a thick paste in the small cauldron sitting near the sink, and Snape motioned to Maya.

"What is this? Hair dye?"

Snape didn't say anything.

"You want me to dye it NOW?"

"I want to make love to the real Maya. Not the one who's been hiding from the world," he said solemnly.

Her surprise melted, and she smiled slowly. "Very well. Do what you must." She sat on the counter, and he turned to face her. She pulled him toward her, and settled him between her legs, pressing their bodies together.

"I shall have a difficult time with the potion if I can't move," he murmured into her ear, running his hands along her arms.

"Hurry," she whispered urgently, and he quickly plucked a hair from her head. He added it to the potion, and swirled it around for a moment.

"Here, drink this," he pulled a glass from the counter, and dipped it in the mixture. She cringed, but swallowed every last gloppy drop, and then jumped down from the counter. She turned to face the mirror, and watched in delight as her hair began to slowly lighten and brass into the golden color Snape remembered so well. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle, watching the hair slowly change until it was a yellowy bronze. He kissed the side of her neck then, making her sigh and grab onto the side of his face. He held her tightly, and bit lightly at the nape of her neck, making her draw in a quick breath.

She turned in his arms, and pulled him toward her out the door. She kissed him on the mouth, and worked her hands under his robes to caress his chest. He shrugged his robe down to the floor, and pushed her coat off her shoulders roughly. Five years was a long time to wait, and he was losing patience, and he could sense that she was as well. There would be plenty of time for slow, love-making in the future, but right now he just wanted to be everywhere on her at once.

Her shirt came off, as did his. Her shoes were discarded at the foot of the bed, and his boots were magically removed with the help of a creative spell from Maya. He pushed her gently onto the bed beneath him, and held her close. Her eyes were on his, and he caressed her softly. He maneuvered, and then was inside her, their eye contact never breaking. He thrust once, and she had a sharp intake of breathe. He thrust again, and she cried out. She grabbed onto him tightly, and they enjoyed the intense pleasures of each other's intimate company.

In recent memory, Snape could not remember having such a satisfying and emotional sexual experience. Nozomi was nothing compared to this woman. A charming companion, doubtless, but he was honestly more emotionally invested in the Weasley twins than his young student. Being with Maya was like scratching a long-aching itch. They were silent, but he could feel the intensity of her passion radiating off of her in every caress, and he returned the need through his own embrace. She kissed his face and his body, and he held her close, smelling the vanilla scent of her blonde hair, forgetting the world back in London.

Maya awoke in his arms several hours later. He hadn't slept, but instead gotten up and made a pot of tea, and then come back to rejoin her. When her eyes fluttered open, she saw him first. She smiled, and nestled closer to him, rolling herself on top of his body.

"Sorry to fall asleep," she murmured, kissing his chest.

"You only slept for just under two hours. It, in fact, gave me time to turn things over in my head."

She looked up at him with slightly worried curiosity, and he handed her a mug of tea.

"What do you need to turn over?"

"Your return has and will continue to cause a sever eruption in the otherwise stable lives of everyone in Lupin's home."

"But, in a good way, I hope?" she asked meekly. She looked up at Snape who had what could only be described as a dull twinkle in his eye.

"It will be an adjustment," he began. "How will my students ever be intimidated if you're my companion? They'll know I have … emotional attachments, and my credibility will be completely lost."

She giggled into his chest. "Are you inviting me to stay with you, then?" she asked hopefully.

"If you're offer to stay amongst the ghosts of your pasts resurrected was sincere, then yes, I'm inviting you to stay."

Maya drew her arms up around his naked shoulders. "We would love that," she said honestly. "I don't want to waste any more time-"

"Wait," he looked own at her with a raised eyebrow. "We? Don't tell me you've got another dog." The disgusted look in his eyes was comical. Maya backtracked quickly. She wasn't ready for Snape to know about Brigid. The moment was too perfect for that.

"Sorry, I mean me … I just woke up, you know." And she curled into him.

He seemed satisfied, and held her tightly in one arm, sipping tea with the other.

"So tell me, Severus. What ever happened to everyone? I need all the gossip from the last couple of years."

"What on earth for?"

"So that if, for instance, Ginny Weasley got enormously fat, or if Sirius decided he was gay and is now married to a man, I won't be horrified or completely, rudely surprised when I see them tomorrow." She smiled, but had felt a reflexive muscle tightening when she mentioned Sirius's name, which she mistook to be anger. "Oh, for God's sake, Sev, are you still mad at him? You should really get over that, I think." She smacked him lightly on the chest.

"Very well," he said a little too serenely. "Who would you like to hear about?"

"Aria and Athena. And my father."

"Your father, as I suspect you know, has gone a bit insane. Your sisters are dealing with it as admirably as possible. Aria has almost completely sworn off family and focused on her career, and Athena weeps every five minutes over anything and everything."

Maya cringed a little. She knew her father wasn't doing well, but it still hurt to hear it from another person. And her sisters were that bad off? She was almost glad she hadn't been her to witness that.

"Alright, well, Sirius and Remus? I saw Remus, he looks good," she said hopefully.

"Yes, Remus is quite well. Working in the muggle world. Although he and Nymphadora are quite the item, and I'm sure everyone else is hoping to receive their wedding announcement very soon," he said dryly.

"Oh good!" Maya bubbled. "Wait, don't you want them to get married?"

"I don't care one way or another. I just don't want to be guilted into another wedding."

"Who else got married?"

"One of the many Weasleys married a French Veela girl, and young master Potter has found himself with wife and expecting a child in the near future."

"Harry? Isn't he a little young for that?" She screwed up her nose. "I mean, great for him, but really. The boy can't be more than 22."

"And how old were you when YOU got married?" Snape asked pointedly.

"Older than THAT, I should think," came her flustered reply. Time to change the subject, she thought. "Well, what of Sirius? Not married to a man then?"

Snape was quiet for a second, and then answered tightly. "Regrettably you will not be seeing Sirius."

Her heart sank. "Why?"

"He was a casualty of war."

She brought her hand up to her mouth. "He's dead?" She almost couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Yes. As is Dumbledore, and quite a few others whose names you may recognize. I won't go through the whole list."

"Ohh," she half-sighed, half-groaned. "I was expecting this to be difficult, but I had no idea."

"Count yourself lucky. You were on the list of casualties until a few days ago."

"That's true," she said absently.

"Your sisters were quite hysterical over the whole ordeal," he added in annoyance. She cringed. She had to face them sooner or later.

"What time is it?"

"Close to one in the morning."

"Ugh. I'm not ready to go back there. Let's wait until morning."

"Whatever suits you," he said quietly, and finished his tea. He settled into an embrace with Maya, and closed his eyes. Let them have one good evening together before having to deal with Aria, Athena, and doubtlessly, Nozomi, in the morning. After all, if nothing else, HE deserved it.

**Coming up next: Maya and her sisters have a little reunion. Meena's daughter Leah thinks of ways to best avenge her mother's death. Nozomi makes her last (small) appearance in Snape's life. Stay tuned! (And review. I'm shameless, I know, but I love reading them.)**


	27. Chapter 27

**At one point I said I would finish this before the end of summer. And then I went on vacation. I'm a slacker ... ah well, steady as she goes. **

Maya awoke with a start. She scrambled her eyes around the room – she was … ah yes, in Severus's home in …. Well, she wasn't quite sure where, exactly. She turned her head quickly, and yes, thank goodness, he was still there, sleeping soundly next to her. She regarded him for a moment, wondering why he looked older to her after only five years. The things he must have gone through, she mused with a pang of guilt. She should have been there for him, but then again, with the knowlege of Voldemort that she had form her brief experience in the wizarding war, she had not delusions of heroism. Maya rolled her eyes in self-disgust as she realized that the first time Severus had come home reeking of any sort of dangerous or nefarious activity, she probably would have beged him to run away with her, and then when he ultimately refused, being the zealous, calculating bastard of staunch determination that she had always considered him to be, she would have doubtlessly run away form everything herself. She touched his face lightly, and then looked about for something to drape over her body, and perhaps a way of finding out the time. Knowing the man as she did, she doubted he would have a clock anywhere even remotely visable. A creature of habit, he arose every morning at the same time, regardless of the tasks scheduled for the day. Maya mused that he was probably an early riser, so the fact that he remained in slumber alerted her to the irratating fact that it was probably before sunrise. She sighed, and leaned over Snape, kissing him lightly on the temple. She inhaled deeply, taking in his scent and committing it to memory. She had to get back to Lupin's to check on Brigid and prepare herself for the reunion that awaited her between her and her two remaining sisters. She slowly rolled out of bed so not to wake Snape, and padded out to the front room, throwing his long cloak about her as she strode. Luckily, in the kitchionette, there was a rather small digital read-out on the microwave that he had not removed: 5:58 am. Maya frowned curiously, and peeked out the window. He was living in a muggle neighborhood, that much she could tell. It made sense, she supposed, since he was apparently teaching at a muggle university. But the fact that there was a stove, microwave, refrigerator … why would he keep those things around if not for the benefit of keeping up an appearance of normality for muggles who might come to call? She snorted, imagining Snape having friends over for tea … then she snorted again, imagining Snape with friends.

Then a thought dawned on her. Nozomi! Of course. That little girl was a muggle, and while she was aware of the magical world now that she had been apperated all over tarnation, she was probably blissfully ignorant until that damnable Trevor put Maya on television, ruining everything – Trevor! She suddenly thought in a panic. God knows there must be a manhunt going on in California. She didn't even want to think what the headlines must be: 'suspect in Klanova murder trial flees – police comb state for trace of Howe's whereabouts'. If she had seemed guilty before, her flight from the witness stand certainly did nothing to exonerate her. She ground her teeth, but resolved to shake the thought out of her head. Hopefully she would never have to go back there, and Trevor could rot in prison for all she cared. She walked back to Snape's bedroom, and sat lightly on the bed next to him. He began to stir, and she stroked his hair softly. It had been so long, and she was so glad to finally have him back. All the love that she had felt for him five years ago, and then decades before that seemed to be churning in her stomach, bringing a warm sense of excitment as she watched him. She smiled at him as his eyes fluttered open and turned to meet hers.

"I see you've decided to stay," he muttered sleepily.

"I told you so," she teased.

"I suppose I'll have to get used to sharing my bed again, then."

Maya laughed, and threw herself into his arms. "Severus, I love you. I know I haven't told you in a long time, and I probably never made it very clear when I had the chance, but I do. Very much."

His expression never changed, but Maya wasn't worried. She had gotten to the point where she could read his non-expressions like a chart, and she could sense that the blank face her showed her now was hiding pleased contentment.

"You do know that I'm a great greasy git, don't you," he said, his lips curling into an authenticly stoic 'Severus' smile.

"Ew," she said, and then laughed. "Yes, Sev, I'm aware that you're a great greasy git. Thank Merlin you found someone to put up with you, or I dare say you would have had no choice but to live out your life in happy solitude."

He put his arms around her, and pulled her on top of him. He spoke into her hair lightly and with great affection. "Stop stalling. You have to see your sisters today."

She groaned into his chest, and he held her and smirked to himself.

An hour later, Maya left Snape at Lupin's front door to run upstairs and take a shower, and check on Brigid, who was still sleeping soundly. Maya freshened up, taking a long, hot shower that she was sure would help her cope with her next task. It seemed to clense her of the negative energy she had built around her in regards to themeeting she was about to have: it helped to wash it all down the drain, and begin again in a new day. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she opened her door, preparing to go downstairs, and ran into Remus Lupin, who was raising his fist to knock.

"Good morning, my dear. Did you sleep well?" He smiled innocently, but Maya saw right through his act.

"Yes, very well in fact." She smiled.

"Severus is downstairs waiting for you," he said. "Your sisters are there as well, and quite, erm, anxious to see you, I'm sure."

"Remus, would you be a dear and watch Brigid for me? She's still asleep, and I don't want her to be frightened when she wakes up."

"My pleasure," he said, seeming genuinely excited.

"Wish me luck!"

"My dear, welcome home." He smiled reassuringly, and watched as Maya slowly, regally descended the stairs.

Aria sat int the drawing room with a cup of strong, smelly coffee. She, too, was an early riser, and she was not at all surprised to see Snape sweep into the room quietly and take a seat on a chair near her.

"Severus," she intoned without looking at him.

"Ms. Howe," he returned, glancing about the room lightly. He had gone into the kitchen and made himself a small cup of good english tea. He drink it as he watched the grey morning out the window, and then, assuming that Maya would be in the drawing room by that point, had made his way to the front of the house. He was slightly disappointed to see that she had not made an appearance yet. But either way, Athena was no where to be seen, and Snape was rather sure that Maya would not enjoy having to reunite with ehr family twice in a row. "May I inquire as to the whereabouts of your sister?"

Aria looked up. "Ha ha, Snape," she narrowed her eyes over her steaming mug. "If I knew that I would have already hit her over the head, and been able to go back to my life. Look at me! This is my fifth vacation day this year, and all for what? So I can sit in Remus Lupin's house with a cup of bad coffee chatting with YOU of all people becasue no one else sees fit to get up before 10am, and I can't find a paper to do a Damn crossword puzzle." She paused, blew on her coffee, took a small angry sip, and this nodded her head. "No offense," she added.

"I'm not interested in your knowledge of Maya," Snape said smoothly, ignoring the slight in his direction, even if he did feel very similar to Aria's rant. He continued, looking forward to the reaction he was about to elicit from the pompous American. "Maya is upstairs. I'm interested in the location of your OTHER sister."

"Maya is WHAT?" Aria snapped.

"She returned late last night, and is in her room."

"WHAT!" Aria stood up and slammed her mug on the table near the chair, sloshing the liquid onto the furniture and the carpet. "Where!"

"Ms. Howe, do be seated," Snape said with disgust.

"Shut up Snape," she hissed. "I'm not one of your students." She stalked to the door, and poked her head out. She yelled as loud as she could toward the kitchen, "ATHENA! Athena! Get in here, damnit!"

She slammed the door, and began to pace around the room. A moment later the door squeaked open, and a worried Athena with her hair in a fat bun not unlike Molly Weasley's coif, stuck her head into the room.

"What! What is it!"

"Oh, please, come ALL the way in," Aria said hotly. "You'll want to have your whole body in the room for this one."

"Is there a problem?"

"Maya is here."

Athena gasped.

"Yes. She's HERE. Upstairs."

"What? When?"

"Just now, apparently."

Athena seemed to float into the room. "She's here?"

"SNAPE! Go GET her!" Aria yelled suddenly, looking at him with great annoyance.

"I think not," he said lazily.

"I want to see her!" Aria yelled. "I want to see her NOW! I deserve an explanation!" She stomped to the couch where Athena had melted into a limp, confused pile of humanity.

There was a gentle knock on the door, and all three of them shot their heads over to see who would enter. Severus took an invisable breathe, and leaned back to watch the fireworks. He loved Maya very much, that much was true, but he felt that she throuroughly deserved everything she was about to get from her family. It was extremely annoying and anti-climactic, therefore, when Leah turned out to be the body on the other side of the door. She stalked into the room with an unfriendly look on her face, and took a seat in the back of the room.  
"Leah, this really isn't the best time," Aria spat.  
"If my aunt has decided to show her face, then I do believe I will stay to see it," she seaid with a sound of finality in her voice. Aria quirked an eyebrow at her – she was undeniably cold, not unlike her mother, but with an insidious calmness that seemed slightly out of place with the rest of the tightly-wound occupants of the home. Snape felt it too, and slowly turned to watch her out of the corner of his eye.  
"Well, where is she?" asked Athena with a hint of hysteria in her voice.  
"Oh, for the love of God, don't get upset already," Aria stamped her foot on the ground. "If you get all pathetic before you even see the woman, I can't imagine what horrors we have in store when the woman actually arrives. If she ever does," she saide pointedly at Snape. He just returned a hard look.  
"Perhaps I will go retrieve her," he said smoothly, and stood. He managed to glide painfully slowly across the room and open the door without another word, but as soon as he shut it behind him, he heard the muffled sounds of Aria arguing loudly with the poor Athena, who seemed to have begun crying already. He silently thanked the heavens that she had waited until he had left the room to gush: he hated women who cried. Such an unecessary waste of emotional energy. He walked to the bottom of the stairs, and paused when he heard small footsteps traipsing slowly toward him. He watched Maya unfold as she descended the stairs.

She looked nervous, which was to be expected, but fully resigned to her fate. Her face did seem to light up when she it was him, and she sped up a bit to wrap herself around him. He returned the embrace more tightly than he meant to, but the novelty of having her actually here to touch and see and small and taste was still new and seemed so gossamer in his mind. He simply could not shake the nagging feeling that she, as always, would not be staying long.  
"I came to fetch you for your sisters – they're growing impatient," he said into her hair.

Maya sighed heavily. "I know, I know … I just feel as though I should be more excited to see them. I want to see them, don't I?" she shook her head. "Really I'm just terrified, because I know they'll spoil it somehow."  
"Yes, well it goes without saying that Aria will yell, Athena will cry, and Leah will plot her revenge. But eventually they'll forgive you, and you'll go on to lead a happy and prosperous life," He sniffed.  
"Leah?"

"Your niece."  
She threw her hand over her mouth. "Meena's daughter!"

Snape nodded. "So it seems." He pulled away from her, and lead her toward the front room.

"This is not going to be fun," she gritted her teeth as they approached the door.

"Which is why I will be elsewhere." He opened the door a slight creak, and watched as she walked in silently. He turned on his heel, and walked towards the stairs in silent glee that he had slimly avoided being an uncomfortable and unwilling participant in the next great Howe family row. So pleased with himself he was, that he was not fast enough to dive into the nearest guestroom upon hearing footsteps approaching form the stairs. He simply kept walking, and ran directly into a very tearful Nozomi.

Maya walked into the room slowly, effectively interrupting the discussion between her sisters. They both looked up, and much to Maya's discomfort, stared for what seemed to be a very long moment. Athena suddenly burst into tears, breaking the silence, and causing Aria to growl loudly. Maya didn't even notice Leah, who glowered in the corner.

"Hello, everyone," she said uncertainly.

"Well, that's a start," Aria snapped. "Now maybe you can tell us where the hell you've been!"

Maya was a bit taken aback by her sisters' behaviors, but she took a deep breath, and looked Aria straight in the eye. This was her sister, afterwall. Not a stranger that she had to face. It was a woman she had grown up with. She waited, knowing Aria would have much more to say.

"You were dead!" Aria continued to rant. "Do you know what it did to us to see you, sitting pretty on TV, casting spells on a whole room full of muggles?" Maya's worry began to subside, as she watched her sister frantically fling her arms around in what she hoped was a fairly well executed show of rage. When Maya saw Severus, it was as if her world all had come flowing back to her in some sort of nostalgic waterfall of all the happiest and most frustrating and heartbreaking memories: all the most intense emotions she had ever felt had crashed in on her in an almost unbearable rush. Now, seeing her sisters, was an entirely different type of deja vue: Aria was posturing and ranting, as she had done since they were children. Athena, although, admittedly seemed a little darker and more withdrawn and emotionally unstable, was the same caring girl that Maya had grown up with - she could see it in her eyes. And suddenly, she was home. It didn't matter that it was Lupin's house in a town she hadn't been to in several years, being in a room with Aria and Athena made a smile of contentment begin to curl across her face. She watched Aria's performance with a small, dreamy smile until her older sister caught her happy expression and ruffled up like an angry hen. "What is so GODDAMN amusing!"

And Maya did the only thing she could think of. She threw herself around Aria in an embrace of five years worth of longing and lonliness for her family, laughing and crying as she did. Aria sputtered and snorted, and tried to wriggle away, but Maya was too ecstatic.

"Aria! Athena! My God, I've missed you so!" She dropped Aria, and ran to the couch, where she dove next to Athena, and held her in a tight hug.

"Maya! What the hell!" Aria stamped her foot. "You can't just ..."

"What?" Maya turned her head over her shoulder. "I can't what?"

Aria just looked at her and shook her head. "I just don't know what to think, really." Her voice was still angry, as if she couldn't believe that Maya was carrying on and hugging them as if nothing had ever happened.

But suddenly Athena spoke up through her gurgling sobs. "Why did you leave me?" Her face threatened to crumble again.

"I had to," Maya said softly. "But it's all over now. I'm back. And I'm never leaving again. Nothing could make me. I'm going to be here for everything form now on." She took Athena's shaking hands in her own. "I have a family now," she began, "and I want us all to be together."

"You had a family before, in case you forgot," pointed out Aria from behind her.

"I want everyone to be together," Maya amended, her eyes still on Athena. She began to worry- she saw a steeley flicker of resolve in Athena's eye, and thought for a moment that she actually might not forgive her. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone, and her entire expression softened, and she leaned her head onto Maya's shoulder, holder her hands tightly.

"I'm sorry," Maya whispered into Athena's hair, strioking it softly. "I'm so sorry." Her eyes traveled up, and she cocked her head to meet Aria's gaze. She said it again, almost inaudible, but Aria could sense Maya's repentance. Aria's cold austerity began to melt through the cracks; she sighed heavily, and gave a little shake of her head, which was understood by Maya to mean that in time, all would be well. Maya smiled back and nodded her thanks, and then leaned her head on Athena's. The moment had come and gone without any real trouble, and Maya couldn't think of anything that would make her break her promise to stay with her sisters and Snape - afterall, that need to escape when the going got tough was a thing of the past, right? She was a parent now, and she needed to be strong for Brigid, if nothing else. She smiled again, thinking to herself that she had finally grown up. Yes, this time she was back for good.

**HAHA ... no she's not. Maya may be a strong female character, but she sure doesn't like to wait it out when the situations get uncomfortable. Nope, of the fight or flight response, she's pretty much ALL flight. I wonder why that is? (As I analyze my own character...) I'm thinking that in her mind, everytime a situation comes up where hanging around to face the 'problem' makes her feel as though she isn't in control of herself, she needs to regain control by simply dropping everything associated with the situation, and start again. This is probably why she didn't do too well in school: when ever something got too hard or she lost interest, she would skip it, and move on to the next thing. Or, when Snape joined the Death Eaters, she couldn't deal with the real issue (even though she still loved Snape), so she left him. Again with her husband (although I think that also had a lot to do with anger and petty revenge that stemmed from a refusal to accept that she had been made a fool of by her husband and sister), and again when she thought the Death Eaters were chasing her, and after she was tried for murder. Hmmm ...she needs therapy. Maya! I'm so sorry for making you a control freak! Stay tuned! ANd let me know what you think about all ... this. Thanks!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Short one. I'll update soon, I promise. Thanks to all who reviewed ... and keep it coming.**

Her eyes were glazed over with anger, and her fists were balled into tight spheres of knuckles and flesh. She had tried not to feel like this, tried so hard to be the bigger person, to be graceful and mature in defeat and embarrassment. But the irrational part of her could not be pacified, and Nozomi wanted to throw Maya Howe and Severus Snape out the nearest window, preferably from a very high floor level. How COULD he? How could he be standing there, looking so smug and satisfied, in front of her, no less? Tears threatened to flow, but she bit her lip, and thought about him touching that …. woman …. and her blood began to boil. She marched down the stairs, and her eyes met his, and she was gratified to see them widen ever so slightly in mild discomfort. His pupils dilated, and she knew he was considering simply shoving past her. She puffed herself out to create a stature that was as powerful as she could muster, and walked directly up to confront him. They stopped a mere foot from each other, his tall, domineering gaze peering down his large nose to meet her smaller, defiant frame. For a moment there was silence.

"You left me in California," she accused quietly, evenly, but with malice.

"You seem to have returned home with little trouble."

"You LEFT me in CALIFORNIA! How was I supposed to get out of there? If I hadn't happened to run into your long, lost girlfriend, I may have been stuck there for … who knows how bloody long!" Her voice was barely above a low hiss.

Snape's nostrils flared in annoyance. After so cleverly avoiding the dramatic confrontation with the Howe family, he had been too hasty in assuming that his day would be relatively problem-free. And now, looking down at this smaller woman who was all but breathing fire at his behaviors over the past few days, he realized with humor that he wanted to laugh at the ludicrous nature of his situation. Nozomi was his student. How he had managed to become so distracted by a girl more than a decade younger than him was suddenly beyond the realm of his possibilities. She was a child, he thought to himself as he looked at her livid visage. And he had no time, nor the need to drag her around any longer. He looked at her with something akin to disgusted pity, and began to push past her.

"My dear, as you may have noticed, I have a great many things to attend to at the moment. If you should need accommodations to return to the University, I'm sure Lupin would not be troubled." He nodded in what he hoped would be finality, but she stepped in front of him, and put her hands on his chest forcefully.

"Don't you dare," she said dangerously. "Where were you last night?"

"I don't see how that is any of your concern."

"Not my concern? You must be joking!"

"I assure you, I am not."

"You were with Maya, weren't you? Weren't you?" Snape didn't even bother to answer, but kept his steely glare fixed on her. Nozomi waited a moment, and then, taking his silence as an affirmative, smacked him hard on the chest angrily. "Why!" Her breath hitched, and she flipped hair in front of her face to keep the tears that threatened to fall from being seen.

"Nozomi," he said, trying to be patient. He folded his arms over his chest. "You are a student. I am your professor. Please, go back to school and continue your studies. You had to know at one time or another that this affair would cease to be. I have kept it going much too long for either of our benefits." He raised a practiced eyebrow.

"You know she has a kid, right?" Nozomi was fighting for every last shred of dignity she could – she grasped out blindly at anything that might hurt him – to ruin his newfound happiness. She was gratified to see that he was genuinely surprised at this bit of news. "Yeah. A little brat that follows her around all the time-" her face began to crumble. "Didn't tell you about that, did she?"

"You must be mistaken," Snape barked pointedly, but he could not find any reason to disbelieve the young woman. "I must go-"

"Sev, please," she resorted to begging, throwing herself against his body, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in the nape of his collarbone. "Please don't leave me…" she trailed off pitifully. "I love you, Sev."

"I would appreciate it if you would refrain from being so familiar with your professor," he seethed, trying to pick her clinging form off his body. "Professor Snape should suffice."

"Oh god," she was sobbing now, heaving heavily against his chest, her body pressed flush against him. He briefly thought of the state that his robes would be in as her cheap, excessive black eye make-up ran all over them, and then, with a flash of relief, he realized stupidly that he always wore black, and nothing would be seen. He stood silently for a few long seconds, and her crying subsided, but she refused to remove herself from his body. Instead, she had wound one hand into his hair, and wrapped the other arm around his waist, leaning her head against his chest. She looked up at him, their faces just inches apart. "Did you ever love me?" she asked finally.

Snape didn't change his expression. He gazed at her with a hard eye, and said quietly, but firmly, "no," with a tiny shake of his head. The tears began to run silently down her face again, but she still stared into his eyes, searching for a truth that she hoped might surface behind his harsh watch. He also stayed very still, allowing her to search. When all her melodramatics were over, and he was just standing, looking at her. He had a brief memory of why he had allowed this disaster of a relationship to take place – in her he saw fierceness and determination that he had always admired. She was really quite a fetching young lass, and he had no doubt that had she been ten years older, and ten years more mature, he would have considered pursuing a real relationship with her – she had the key qualities within her that he always felt Maya had lacked. He gave her a small, genuine smile of regret, and reached up to stroke her hair once. As he did it, he knew it was a mistake, for it would instill hope in the young girl who held him close: what he didn't realize was that Maya had just emerged from the front room, and had walked toward the stairs to check on young Brigid. She walked around the corner, and stopped short when she saw Severus in what seemed to be a very compromising position with the girl who Maya had assumed to be simply an interested student.

She took in a deep breath, and ducked back behind entryway wall, thoughts flowing through her mind a million miles a minute. This was a mistake. Why had she left California? Severus was involved with someone else. A student, no less, and now she was caught in the middle. She felt the sudden overwhelming need to leave England. Of course, in the United States, she was wanted for murder … she shook her head. It didn't matter. She would go to Germany, to her mother's family's home. Or the vineyards in Italy. Or anywhere, anywhere where no one had heard the name Maya Howe or Jasmine Von Tost. She could even get a new name … she had always been partial to the name Jacqueline … She stopped herself, and peeked around the wall again. This time, she looked up, and accidentally met Nozomi's eye. Maya could see it in her gaze: she was very desperately in love with Snape. She loved him, and she clearly had won him: she was young and interesting and single, after all, with nor previous attachments, no painful history to consider – and Maya suddenly knew that she couldn't compete.

Snape noted the sudden change in Nozomi's manner from clingy and emotional to reserved and uncomfortable, and he cocked his head, with a sudden dawning of horrible understanding. He whipped his head around behind him to see what his intuition had told him must be true: Maya Howe stood ten feet away from him, looking up at him with an expression of extreme horror, sadness and betrayal. She looked at him, met his eyes, and he watched as she managed to drain all the emotion out of her face, and gaze at him with aloof coldness. He didn't even have a chance to move before she looked away, and walked out of the room toward the front door. He heard it slam, and he cursed silently to himself: who knows where she was headed this time, or when she would be back. He tossed Nozomi roughly off of him, and stormed after her, the questions about an unmentioned child looming ominously in his brain.

**Short and sweet, I know ... But I had to get rid of Nozomi somehow. And don't worry - Maya's not going anywhere. Keep reading, keep reviewing...I love you guys!**

**Coming up next: You can run, but you can't hide! Wanted for murder isn't something you can get out of, Ms. Howe. But fleeing form the law was a very valient effort. Two thumbs up for that.**


	29. Chapter 29

**One more for the beginning of the work week.**

Maya walked down the street, her shock melting away surprisingly quickly. She slowed to a light stroll, knowing that Snape would probably be right behind her, trying to catch up without seeming as though he had any pressing need to catch her. She was not disappointed – within moments, she heard quick footsteps, and he fell into step beside her.

"I had no idea Ms. Nozomi was such a close friend of yours," she remarked calmly.

"She is my student," Snape began coldly. "Nothing more."

"Hm," Maya remarked. "Is it common for professors to sleep with their students? It HAS been a long time since I was in college." To her satisfaction and resurfacing annoyance, he had the decency to not challenge her comment. Finally, after a moment of silence, Snape began to speak.

"I heard the happy news of your growing family," he tested.

"I'm sure I don't know what your talking about," she answered flatly, peering both ways down the empty street before crossing quickly towards a small grassy park.

"Your child."

"What about her?" she asked boldly.

"So it's true then?" he was a little confused by her candor on the subject. If it wasn't something she was trying to hide, why hadn't she mentioned it sooner?

"Yes," she continued. "I have a daughter." Her tone challenged him slightly. "I decided the time in my life had come to have a child. Thank God I didn't have a daughter when I last saw you, or by now she'd be old enough for you to invite her to dinner." Maya walked to the small bridge overlooking a pond in the park, and leaned heavily against the metal rail. Snape stood behind her with his arms crossed.

"If you must know, Ms. Osuda and I had a very short-lived and ill-considered affair that she fancied to be a romance. I only saw it to be a slightly irritating way to take my mind off the less pleasant aspects of my life."

"That's just great," she snapped. "How old is she? In her twenties, no doubt. And already she's being used by older men." Maya shook her head in sad amusement. "They sure grow up faster in this day and age."

"Maya, believe me. My affiliation with Nozomi is over." He scoffed, and put his hands against the rail of the bridge.

Maya smiled wistfully. "Poor thing," she muttered. "She never had a chance."

"Of course not. I told her on many occasions that I was simply not interested-"

"But you clearly were," Maya interrupted.

"Not interested in the relationship that she wanted," he finished forcefully. "And how you could be angry at me for this is ludicrous."

"I'm not angry," she said mildly. "Just surprised."

"Surprised that I would have companionship in your absence? I believed you dead, if you'll remember accurately. It was hardly a case of infidelity-" he paused. "And to be frank, I'm sure you didn't languish away in utter solitude for the last five years." He said this last bit almost glumly, but managed to curl his lip in disgust.

Maya actually laughed. "I most certainly was not lonely. But I wasn't involved with any men, Severus. I had Brigid to tend to. Most men aren't keen on a single woman with a four and half year old child." She shook her head lightly, a small smile still playing on her face. "And anyway, I'm glad that you weren't alone while I was gone. I was just a little surprised that the woman you chose to 'affiliate' with, as you so romantically put it, is at least fifteen years younger than you. She's practically a child!" Maya looked out over the rippling pond. "I'm old, Sev," she said finally. "I'm in my fourties. How the hell can I compete with a brilliant, fetishy teenager?"

But Severus didn't answer. He had a rather strange look on his face that Maya read to mean that something unsaid between them was causing great mental anguish. He cocked his head to one side, and then looked back at Maya.

"Tell me about…Brigid, was it?" His eyes bored into hers.

"What would you like to know?" she said suspiciously.

"Tell me about her name, for one thing. How cultural of you," he mused with light sarcasm. "I do hope your next child will not be named Samhain."

"Well, it was a toss-up. I almost named her Glenda," Maya snorted.

"I assume than, that she's a witch?"

"Sev, she's FOUR and a HALF. At this point, she's just a child."

"Hm," he said lightly. His line of questioning was getting him nowhere, but he was more than intruiged about a child that seemed to be timed almost exactly with their last meeting. It couldn't be…..but then, who was to say? Maya was showing that she did in fact have an amazing propensity for hiding rather large secrets from everyone involved, her faked death being a prime example, so how could he be sure that this child had nothing to do with him? The thought began to sink in, and he felt more and more horrified with each breath.

"Sev? What's the matter?" She poked him lightly.

"What does she look like?" He managed to ask calmly.

"She's very short," Maya said sharply. "What's wrong with you?"

He tried a different tactic. "Are you leaving? Because of Nozomi's indiscretion?"

She looked away from him. "I should be angry about Nozomi, shouldn't I?"

"No."

"Well, I'm not. Just a little uncomfortable, you know. And If I stay, I don't want her around."

"Why on Earth would she be around?"

"My LAST husband cheated on me. I have a sore spot on that particular topic."

"We're not married," he pointed out. "Nor are we likely to get married any time in the near future, since you can't decide if you're actually going to live anywhere in my general vicinity." He paused, and then looked at her. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, besides the fact that you have a child? You have an escort business, or a drug trafficking ring, perhaps? Maybe that you're not actually Maya, but Mad-eye Moody on polyjuice potion? Any other huge pieces of information that I should know about?"

Maya chuckled. "Well, I am wanted for murder," she said without a trace of irony. And somehow, it sounded a lot funnier in her head than when it actually tripped out of her mouth.

"Ah, yes. That IS a problem." He leaned against the bridge rail with her.

Finally, she turned to him. "Severus? Look at me."

He complied, and saw something that he rarely saw in her eyes: complete, naked honesty. He braced himself for whatever she was about to say.

"I want to stay with you. I love you very much, and while maybe we're to old to have a steamy, torrid romance, I would very much like to begin a life here with you. Just like I was going to do five years ago before this whole death eater disaster." She paused. "But it's so much more difficult than that. Our entire lives can't be like last night was."

"How was last night?" he couldn't help but ask.

"The best night in recent memory," she answered dryly, with a suggestive smile that made him laugh a bit under his cold exterior. How did she do that? After all these years he still wasn't sure. Perhaps she just reminded him of a time when life was less complicated: a time when he did smile. He listened as she continued. "But I have a daughter. I'm guessing you weren't planning on ever having children, and with me, well … she's not going anywhere." She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "And I'm a little uncomfortable about this Nozomi thing – I mean, if she had graduated even last semester and moved on, I would think the whole thing rather humerus, but Sev, she's still going to be in class with you. I saw the way she looked at you – she's not going to be able to just leave you alone." She shook her head. "Between Brigid and Ms. Osuda, I don't know that either of us could be happy." She sighed, and leaned her head down against his shoulder. He took in her words, agreeing with her completely. But, if Brigid was his child, that would be different, wouldn't it? And he had no problem giving Nozomi to another teacher for mentorship. She was a talented chemist, and most of the staff would love to have her study directly under them. He held Maya at arms length.

"I would like to meet Brigid," he said authoritatively.

"What? When?" She looked confused.

"What more opportune time than the present?" She gave him a funny look, but his expression remained stoic. She took a deep breath, and shrugged. He offered her his arm, and she took it tentatively, and the two headed back to Lupin's home, walking in anticipatory silence.

The door to the room Maya was staying in was ajar, and Maya peeked around the corner. Lupin was sitting on floor with Tonks, who was morphing her face to make the small child in front of her giggle. Lupin was smiling gleefully at the child's laughter, and Tonks seemed to be thouroughly enjoying herself.

Severus looked at the child and his heart flopped in his chest. She had dark hair and large, dark eyes with long lashes, from what he could see. She seemed healthy, with a rosy glow in her cheeks, and a wide smile. He squinted. She didn't look like Maya at all, which he found strange, so he began looking for himself in the child's face, but he didn't see anything remotely recognizeable.

Maya knocked softly, and the three of them looked up. Brigid jumped up, and scrambled to her mother, throwing her arms around Maya's legs. Maya reached down and scooped her up, lovingly holding her on her hip.

"Mom!" Brigid yelled delightedly. "Guess what! Tonks can change her face! And her hair, too! It's pink! Mom, look at her hair, mom, it's pink!"

Maya chuckled. "Tonks. Lupin. She'll never want to go home with me now that you've entertained her so well."

"She's a jolly lass," Tonks grinned. "We've enjoyed each other to the full!"

"Yes, well, I think now Brigid needs to be with her mother, my dear," Lupin took Tonks by the arm. "We shall see you all downstairs for lunch, I assume?" Lupin asked congenially.

"Of course," Maya nodded.

"Severus," Lupin nodded, and Snape raised an eyebrow as Lupin nad Tonks wandered down the hall. He fixed his attention to the young girl in Maya's arms, who, while so boisterous before was now looking at him with large dark eyes, being as silent and still as possible.

"Mommy – who's that?" she whispered in Maya's ear. Maya smiled gently, and put Brigid down.

"Sweetie, this is my friend, Severus Snape. Severus, this is Brigid."

Snape wasn't quite sure how to react to this child, so he merely nodded at her once in recognition. Brigid seemed terrified by the dark man with the strange name, and she ducked behind her mother.

"Brigid, it's quite alright. He's a nice man." Maya giggled, and looked lovingly at the small child with an expression that Snape had never seen on Maya's face before. It was one of complete unconditional love and devotion, and he was slightly disconcerted, if not intruiged.

"It's quite alright, Maya – I've been informed that I can be quite intimidating by my young students, I can't imagine that your even younger child would be any different," he said dryly, and Maya could sense the humor in his voice. Maya leaned down to Brigid, and spoke softly. "Sweetie, I know this is all very strange for you, but you're being so wonderful. I'm going to speak with Severus for a moment now, but why don't you go play outside in the yard? There's a fountain, and we can freeze it over into ice, and you can go ice skating like we did in Lake Tahoe, you remember?"

Brigid nodded. Maya took her hand, and lead her down the stairs. Snape followed silently. When they reached the yard, Maya took out her wand and spurted a stream of water into the large, dilapidated, stone fountain. She froze the water, creating a nice, small ice patch, just large enough for a girl of Brigid's size to akte in wide circles. Maya transfigured her daughter's shoes into skates, and the child happily climbed onto the fountain, and began to clumsily slide about on the ice. Maya watched her with a gleam in her eye.

"Maya," Snape began gently, "there's something I must ask you-" he waited, and Maya turned to face him.

"Yes?"

"I must inquire as to Brigid's … parentage," he said slowly.

"Oh, of course," Maya nodded. "Sorry about that. I really should have explained it all to you sooner. Would have cleared everything up, I suppose." She smiled, her eyes twinkling.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Snape looked almost betrayed, and Maya, for the life of her, didn't understand why.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think it was the top of the priority list of things to say when I was going to see you for the first time in five odd years."

Snape shook his head in disbelief. "Am I to understand that you didn't think it was important to inform me that I had fathered a child?"

"What?" Maya looked up sharply. "No no no! Oh, Sev, no." She laughed out loud then. "Oh Jesus, no wonder you were acting so strange. Brigid isn't your child Sev!" She guffawed again, and wrapped her arms affectionately around his body, squeezing him tightly.

He immediately grew indignant. "Than who on Earth IS the father?"

Maya looked at Snape matter-of-factly. "Brigid's father is dead," she explained simply.

Snape looked into Maya's eyes, and then back at the child, and then back to her face.

"Sirius Black?" he managed to choke out slowly, stiffening his body, awiting the answer.

"Sirius Black? What the hell? NO. Sev, NO." Maya smacked him playfully, and then rolled her eyes. "Where are you getting that crazy idea? I haven't seen Sirius for –"

"Five years, Maya. A consistant amount of time for a child to be conceived, and grow to be Brigid's age."

"Brigid's father is dead. So is her mother. She's adopted, Sev. She's technically not MINE." Maya shook her head again, smiling at the bizarre turn the conversation had taken.

He looked at her curiously. "You were not with child, then?"

"Are you kidding? How is that even possible? I was dead for like, MONTHS. Even if you HAD knocked me up, the baby wouldn't have lived." She watched his reaction, and softened her gaze. "I was alone, and I wanted a child. That's all. No one is the father. She's an Armenian orphan."

"I see," Snape said smoothly, feeling something strangely between disappointment and relief. Maya seemed to sense it.

"Sev, I know you're not fond of children," she began.

"I taught grade school for fifteen years," he pointed out.

"And hated every minute of it, I'm sure," she countered. He didn't respond. "I just don't want to force you into being a father if that's not what you want. You don't deserve that, and Brigid shouldn't be made to feel like she's a burden."

"How selfless of you," he drawled.

"May I ask you a question, Sev?"

"Please do."

"Would it have made a difference if she had been your child?" She looked at him searchingly. He looked back at her, and with great honesty answered,

"I don't know." He sighed, and then added with a smirk. "But things would have been decidedly different had she been Sirius Black's child."

Maya laughed loudly, and threw her arms around Snape yet again. This time he returned the embrace, and stood as she giggled into his chest. She looked up at him as they held each other.

"I love you Sev," she said. "Even if we can't be together right now because of Brigid, I still love you."

He looked down at her. "I will admit that the idea of being around a small child makes me … mildly uncomfortable," he leaned his head down and pressed his forehead to hers. "But the offer to stay with me still stands."

Maya's face melted into a very happy, very genuine smile, and Snape's heart began to beat in his throat. He felt very different, as if this time everything was real. He had just asked her to stay with him, even with a child that turned out to be of parentage that was certainly not his. It was as if the world had fallen on the wrong axis, and was spinning out of control in a totally new and unexpected direction. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips, and she responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulling herself to him tighly. They stayed like that, holding each other for a long time as the wind swirled around them. Brigid skated on the fountain ice, oblivious to her mother and Snape. Snape was returning the favor by being totally oblivious to everything that was not the smell, feel and taste of Maya as he kissed her over and over again: the only one who was not blissfully unaware was Nozomi, who stood in the upstairs hallway, with tears running silently down her face as she watched Snape fall in love with another woman.

**Awwww. Shucks. Coming up next: The long arm of the law finally catches up with Maya, no thanks to some of the nastier characters that are hanging around. Please review! I love getting reviews from everyone.**


	30. Chapter 30

**OK Gang ... here she goes. Bye Bye! (Ugh ... finally)**

"He just keeps retreating," she said miserably over a half-smoked cigarette. "He's so full of bitter pride when it comes to talking about her … he won't even bring her up most of the time." Nozomi gave a disgusted, sullen look, and pouted, back slouched against the side of the house. It was later in the day, and she had hidden from the rest of the house until Snape and Maya had taken Brigid down to the river. She had then crept out of her room, hoping to find Ginny, and instead finding Lupin and Harry tossing a quaffle in the yard. She had tried to get away unnoticed, but was unsuccessful, and the pair of them called her out to have a smoke and some chocolate (Lupin's suggestion). Nozomi was silent at first, but they kept prodding, and now she was spilling out all the disgruntled misery she could muster over her role as the jilted lover, while the two men listened sympathetically. "He's completely embraced this self-made solitude. It's like he never stopped grieving over her."

"I don't think he ever did stop grieving," Lupin commented. "He never had any real relationships that I knew of after she left the first time. And I'm pretty sure YOU are the closest thing to a female companion that he had after he thought she had died." He stood, poised to catch the quaffle that Harry tossed leisurely at him.

"He's so arrogant," she complained loudly. "He lets everyone know how miserable he is, but he won't let anyone pity him … the only choice is to dislike him!"

"Or fear him," Harry groaned. "He may not seem intimidating to college students, but let me tell you – the effect he had on the lot of us at twleve, especially in his black robes – he was pretty scary sometimes." He caught the quaffle and chuckled. "He made Neville Longbottom cry on more than one occasion."

Lupin grimaced. "That poor boy. Severus never really had any-" he paused, as if searching for the word.

"Morals? Self-control? NICENESS?" Harry suggested.

"Now you know that's not true," Lupin supplied. "Well, maybe the niceness…" He and Harry smirked at each other.

Nozomi sighed. "I'm so in love with him …" she whined, dragging on the cigarette and biting the chocolate bar savagely.

"He's in love too," Lupin reasoned. "Just not with you."

"You know, I'm beginning to wonder if it's actually possible that he's in love with her. I think maybe he loves her out of habit. I don't think he's capable of loving anyone anymore."

Harry heaved the quaffle at Lupin, who grabbed it clumsily. He loked thoughtfully at Nozomi. "You know, we always assumed that any sort of cheerfulness, any sort of joy or happiness just got in his way. Like he thought it was this unnecessary feeling that made people lose concentration. It was almost as if he tried to isolate himself from all that happiness so he wouldn't have to be distracted by it."

"Or distracted by the fact that he didn't have it," Lupin added in fairly.

"He's a fool if he thinks he can just escape emotion," Nozomi growled.

"Oh, I don't think he's escaped it." Lupin rolled the quaffle to Harry, and came over to join Nozomi. "The man has an amazing amount of guilt and resentment bottled up from everything that's gone on in his life. That context is one thing that Maya has that you could never have – she's witnessed many of the events that have robbed him so thouroughly. I don't think you would ever really be able to understand, my dear." Lupin patted her knee gently.

"I keep thinking that I can help him. Maybe I can change him." She looked up at Harry and Lupin. "I'm young and fun and all of that – I hoped that he would forget everything, and be able to start over with me."

"Don't try," Harry said quickly. "He's caught up with a battle within himself. It's not fair to you."

"Why did I ever think that he love me?" Nozomi leaned her head back against the house, and closed her eyes.

"He cares about you a great deal, my dear. He would never tell you that, of course, but I can tell," Lupin assured her sagely.

"Why won't he tell me?"

"He's far too proud for that."

"But he tells her," Nozomi sighed.

Lupin paused. "He has no pride where she is concerned." He cocked his head a bit, and a small smile began to play across his face. "That's how I know he loves her."

Later that day, Nozomi stood awkwardly infront of Maya's door. She watched the door for a moment, and then raised a fist to knock, but immediately lowered it again. She took a deep breath, knelt down, and shoved a small, flat envelope under the door. As soon as that was done, she took off down the stairs to where Ginney was waiting to apperate her back to Kent. They walked out the front door, and Nozomi never looked back.

Maya and Snape were enjoying a cup of tea in her room as Brigid played with a bucket of leggos on the floor near them. Maya was doing the daily crossword puzzle, and Snape was grading a stack of papers that had had flooed from his desk that morning. They sat in amiable silence, until Maya heard the brush of paper against the carpet. She looked up, and saw an envelope that had been shoved under the door, and she stood to retrieve it.

"Mail?" Snape asked lazily.

"I suppose," Maya answered. She picked it up, and pulled the note from within the paper casing. She scanned it, and then paused, and went back to the top to read it more carefully.

Severus:

I'm leaving right now for Kent University, but I want this letter to be the last you think of me. I want you to know that now that it's all said and done, I'm really quite happy that you've found what you were wanting very badly. It's completely clear to me now that we weren't going anywhere, and it would be very hard for either of us to pretend anymore, now that I've seen how you ache for Maya. I'm not angry, and I know that you didn't mean any harm to me. I feel far too incomplete to remain, however, and I know that I'm a nothing more than a loose end in the fabric of a life you created when the reality you lived in for so long unraveled. Now that you're back within it's folds, I want you to have the second chance with her that you so desperately want. I shall petition to be shuffled within the department later this afternoon, so when you return, I will be gone.

Cheers, and all my love,

Nozomi

Maya placed the note gently back into the envelope, and debated whether or not to give it to Snape. Finally she returned to her seat, and picked up her pen. Snape looked up at her questioningly.

"Well? What was that all about?"

Maya smiled then, and took his hand in her own. "Everything is finally just as it should be," she muttered. She slid the note into her crossword puzzle papers, reminding herself to show it to him when the time was right.

"What do you mean?"

She just smiled and stood to lean over the table. She kissed him lightly on the mouth, and stroked his cheek with her hand. "Everything is going to work out," she said. He just raised and eyebrow, and went back to grading. Maya returned to her crossword puzzle, attacking it with new zeal. She had Snape back, and Nozomi could finally return to having the normal life that a 25-year-old student should have, without being involved with a much older man – especially a man like Severus Snape.

**Yay! Almost done, guys. Home Stretch. Next time we'll get some action, some romance, some betrayal ... WOOHOO! PS ... thanks to Admiral Jackel for reviewing. Where is everyone else?**

**WHO WILL BE REVIEW NUMBER 50? Let's say reviewer number fifty can pick a major plot point to be written into the last 7 or eight chapters of the story (within reason). Yes. That will be fun.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Lust, Lies, Betrayal ... just another normal day.**

Leah sat alone at the small pub down the street from Lupin's home. She was angry and disgusted that everyone had fallen all over themselves for this woman. How could they be so stupid? Maya had been killed: she was dead! She couldn't just come back to life like it was nothing, and yet no one had even thought to ask her about it. And then there was this business of her petrifying an entire muggle courtroom on television cameras! Could Maya Howe BE any stupider? Honestly!

Leah took a long swig of her ale, and glared up at the TV mounted on the wall. Weather, sports, traffic: nothing interesting, and yet it held her attention long enough to forget about how much she hated her entire family and all of their ridiculous friends. The anger had just begun to melt away, when a special bullitan popped into view.

"Still no leads in the Olga Klanova case, but the now on the lam Maya Howe, alias Jasmine Von Tost, has been sighted in London, sources say." Leah watched in fascination as a very blurry picture of Maya holding her daughter was shown on the screen. "Police are asking for any information of the whereabouts of this possibly dangerous criminal."

So the police knew she was here. That WAS a problem, she mused. She wouldn't be able to kill the woman if the muggle police got to her first. And anyway, Maya had come back from the dead once before... Leah wanted to know how she managed to that with such ease. Leah didn't want her popping back up alive after being murdered again. That would be embarrassing, if anything. But, more importantly, if she could find the secret, she could bring her mother back – how proud Meena would be if Leah managed to exact revenge on Maya right in front of her! Leah threw down some change for the barkeep, and swiveled off her stool. She suddenly had some very interesting things to do with her day.

Maya sat at the kitchen table having a cup of tea. Ginney was outside playing with Brigid, and Snape had gone off on some errand or another, so she finally had a moment of peace. She wasn't expecting Severus back, so when the door opened slowly, she turned her head to glance at whoever it was would be joining her. Her heart skipped a few beats when she saw that it was Leah, standing quietly in the doorway. Maya tried to smile, but she suddenly felt as if a dementor had swept into the room – all the warm air and coziness had been sucked out into the atmosphere upon Leah's enterance. Maya simply turned backto her tea, hoping the girl would leave without a confrontation.

"How did you do it?" Leah's voice came from directly behind her, and Maya jumped. She hadn't heard her creep up, and she was beginning to be uncomfortable with this girl's menacing tones.

"How did I do what?" she asked, trying to remain calm and dignifired.

"Everyone in this house is so overjoyed to have you around, that for some reason, it has slipped everyone's mind that you were DEAD. We all saw you. I saw you." Leah came around the table, and sat gingerly in the chair across from her aunt. She folded her hands together softly. "How did you do it?"

"That's really something I'd rather not discuss with you, actually." Maya took a sip of her tea. This young girl was reminding Maya more and more of Meena, and she was unnerved.

To her surprise, the young girl did not seem nonplussed in the slightest. She merely cocked her head and continued to speak in tones that, had the subject of the words not been so weighty, could have been classified as conversational.

"You know the police are looking for you. They know you're in London."

Maya's stomach flipped. "They won't find me."

"The aurors are looking for you too," Leah stared at her. "They're quite annoyed about your little 'display' in the courtroom, not to mention murdering that Klanova woman. I heard Tonks and Harry talking about it just the other day."

"I didn't kill her," Maya said sharply.

Leah just shrugged. "No one has to find out you're here," she said. "Tell me how you brought yourself back from the dead, and I won't tell the ministry or the muggle police where you are."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"I'm just saying that if you're found, it would get a lot of people in trouble. Harry and Tonks would probably be sacked for withholding the whereabouts of a criminal like you. Especially since you're staying in Tonks's home…" she raised an eyebrow at Maya significantly. "Wouldn't that be quite the scandal?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"You killed my mother," she said with a hard edge in her voice. "What did you expect me to do? Pick up the pieces and become your best friend?" Leah snorted cruelly. "Think about it. Think about it for your daughter. As much as I'd like to see her grow up without a mother like I had to, I'm giving you a reprieve."

"What do you want?"

"Tell me how you came back," she said again, as she stood. "I'll be in my room when you decide to stay out of prison." Leah stood, and walked through the door, an altogether smug look on her face.

When Snape walked into Lupin's home an hour later, he saw Maya sitting quietly, staring at the wall. Her hands were trembling slightly, and she had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What on Earth are you doing?" he asked, walking around the table to look at her.

She looked up at him slowly. "Would it be wrong," she began, "to alter the memory of someone if they were trying to blackmail me?" she asked. He just raised an eyebrow. "Wait, no … I know it's wrong." She stood with a bang of the chair falling over behind her. "But bloody hell if I'm not going to do it anyway!" Eyes blazing, she patted herself down for her wand madly, until Snape had the sense to grab her hands.

"What are you talking about!"

Her eyes were wild. "Damn that Meena! She's dead, and still she taunts me!" Snape looked at her as if she had gone insane.

"Maya. Calm down!"

"Don't you see? That ingrate child of hers is threatening to tell the police where I am! And she's going to get Brigid taken away, and Tonks and Harry fired, and YOU fired too, for all I know-"

"MAYA!" he bellowed, cutting off her tirade. "Have you gone mad?"

"No!" She yelled back. "Stop yelling at me!" She sat back down in the chair with a thunk.

"Maya, what did she say to you?" Snape positioned himself in the chair across from her.

Maya sighed. "Everything that's completely true, the little bitch!" She screwed her eyeballs closed, surprised at herself. "I'm sorry, Severus. But she's right. Unless I can prove that I didn't kill that tart Klanova, I'm as good as arrested!" She dropped her head on the table.

"Well, that can't be all that difficult of a problem to solve," he muttered. "Did you kill her or not?"

She looked up. "Of course not! I don't kill people." She gave him a look that clearly showed she was annoyed that he would even suspect such a thing.

"Alright then. It shouldn't be that hard to find her."

Maya began to chew her lower lip and shift her eyes around.

"You DID kill her!" Snape accused, with an expression that showed he was clearly disgusted and impressed at the same time.

"No!" Maya wailed.

"Don't tell me you turned HER into a dog as well?" Snape guessed.

"I would NOT want that thing in my home, even if she was a dog," she snapped back.

"Then what have you done to her?"

"Really," she began a little hysterically, "this is all your fault!"

"How could this possibly be my fault?"

"Last time I saw you, I gave Harry my ring to give to you, so you would give it back to me if anything happened! And then it DID happen, and you gave it to TREVOR!" She gesticulated wildly, and threw her head into her hands dramatically. Snape just raised an eyebrow, having no earthly idea what she was talking about.

"Are you in need of a calming draught?"

"Severus! Listent o me! When we went to face Voldemort five years ago, I gave Harry this ring," she held up her hand, where a silver band sat on her finger, "and told him to give it to you in case anything happened to me."

"Yes," he said stiffly. "He gave it to me."

"Right. And then somehow Trevor ended up with it."

"Yes, I gave it to Trevor after your death." He finished uncomfortably. "I didn't want it around as an unpleasant reminder."

"You weren't supposed to keep it, you were supposed to put it back on my finger!"

"The finger of a corpse? How on Earth was I supposed to realize that? It's not something that people commonly do!"

"Hey, I had a grandfather who kissed his dead wife goodbye during the funeral," she said, wagging a finger at him. "Don't tell me what people do and don't do with their dead lovers." Snape rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but what makes you think that I would have even the smallest notion to place the ring back on your finger after you had died?"

"I don't know – I thought maybe in a rare moment of romance you would put the ring on yourself, begin to notice a change, and pull it off before anything drastic could happen. You're a smart man Sev, I figured you would MAKE the CONNECTION!"

"Damn you woman!" he snarled, and threw up his hands. They sat and glared at each other for a moment. Finally he closed his eyes briefly, as if the whole conversation was giving him a headache, and began to massage his temple. "Let's try this again, shall we? In a very simple way, that will allow you to communicate the pertinent facts in a way that I can understand them."

"I'm not an imbecile, Severus."

"Humor me," he said flatly. She flared her nostril in response.

"You say this woman Trevor had been cohorting with is still alive."

"Yes," she answered stubbornly.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yes," her tone was a little more unsure.

"Then why can't you go bloody find her, and clear this mess up!" he exploded again.

"Because she's ME!" Mwaya screamed back. She waved her finger at him. "The ring, you idiot! It's what I've been trying to tell you! I linked it to my … self … essence ... I don't know what to call it … but I gave it to you, you gave it to my idiotic husband, and he gave it to his whore, who put it on, and she turned back into ME. Now I can't take the bloody thing off, because if I do…POOF! Olga Klanova!"

"You turned your ring into a horcrux?" he stood and splayed his hands out on the table as he leaned in to her.

"No," she spat. "It's different than a horcrux-"

"Well it's clearly related."

"But it's not the same thing! It's just a spell. I didn't have to kill anybody to do it, or anything like that."

"Tell me, Maya," he positively purred, "could this, perchance, have been a dark spell?"

"I learned from the best," she said in a low voice, clearly referring to him. He narrowed his eyes and sneered at her.

"Well, on one hand, the crime you commited in the muggle world can be reversed, apparently, and you can be absolved. However, I'm sure that this kind of spell is a crime in OUR world."

"So?" she shrugged. "What's the problem with that? As long as I'm not going to jail anymore, who cares."

"Because," he pressed on. "If anyone finds out, you WILL go to jail. Azkaban." He saw that his words had set in, as her eyes got very wide, and she was uncharacteristically silent.

"But really, Severus, I mean, I turned Trevor into a dog for what? Ten years? Fifteen? This can't be much different."

"Yes, I'm sure you could go to jail for that as well."

Maya gasped. "Shit!"

"Quite," he smiled grimly. It just figures that she would pull something like this, he thought. Such typical disregard for any semblance of order.

"Well then, no one can find out! We'll just have to find someone else to put the ring on, and Olga will come back, and we can send her on her way, and everything will be just grand." She implored Snape with her eyes. "Can we do that?"

"You realize that means someone ELSE would disappear."

"No, we can stick it on a dead body, can't we?" She paused. "Ew."

"We could do that," he said calmly. "But it's a lot more difficult to find corpses just lying around muggle London than you would think. Muggles tend to keep track of their dead, and short of grave robbing, which I prefer not to lower myself to, it seems that we might be waiting awhile." He paused, and a small smile began to play on his lips. "Perhaps we could kill Harry?"

"Sev," she warned, but returned the playful look. They sat in silence for a few seconds, until suddenly she stood up in ernest. "My father!" she exclaimed. "He's crazy, and probably on his way out, now isn't he? We'll use him!"

"You cannot kill your father," he said, although he seemed to actually think the idea had merit.

"Grave robbing it is then," she joked.

"Waiting for the opportune TIME is the correct course of action," he corrected.

"What about Leah?"

"What does she want?"

"She wants me to show her how I seemingly cheated death so she can bring Meena back form the dead," she said offhandedly.

Snape flinched. "A quite unpleasant thought," he said calmly. "Well, lie to her then. Make something up."

"It's not as though it will work anyway," Maya said. "Meena would have to be alive herself to perform the spell. I can't just raise the dead. I'm not GOD."

Snape smiled a bit. "I'm glad you finally recognize that fact then."

She smiled, and went to embrace him. He massaged her shoulders carefully, and she felt as if a weight had been lifted.

Outside, Leah folded up her extendable ears. Lie to her, would they? She didn't think so. She headed out the door for the Ministry of Magic. If she couldn't bring her mother back, she would make sure that Maya Howe spent a long time in prison.

**She's such a bad seed! Hah. Anyway, I estimate like, another four chapters or something. Plus, I've started working on a new fic that y'all might like ... It's called 'Notorius' and anyone who's a hitchcock fan will get a kick out of everything that I've "borrowed" from the movie of the same title. Anyway, same as always. Read and Review. Hopefully I'll finish this damn thing soon!**


	32. Chapter 32

**This was a really really hard one to write for some reason. I think maybe it's getting rough becasue I'm getting toward the end. Oh well. Let me know what you think. Off the to the gym!**

When her mother was alive, Leah never would have had to suffer the supreme indignity of taking the service entrance into the ministry of magic. As it was, even the simple joy associated with walking into the ministry through the front doors had been wrenched away from her. She picked her way into the alleyway phone booth, lamenting over the tragedy of her situation.

"State your name and business," came the voice from the phone.

"Leah McWharton. I'm here to give information on a wanted criminal," she said. "I need to go to the auror's department."

A small visitor's badge with the words 'Leah McWharton, criminal intelligence' appeared through the slot, and she was whisked away into the ministry interior. She stepped out of the confined space, and immediately began the long trek through the halls to the department of magical law enforcement.

When she arrived at the front desk, she looked down her nose athoritively at the young secretary who could not have been more than three or four years her senior. "I wish to see Auror Section Head Justine Arborforth."

The young woman looked up boredly. "Mrs. Arborforth is regrettably quite busy this afternoon," she recited, "and cannot be seen without an appointment."

"I'm afraid I must insist," Leah said again firmly. "Justine is a family friend, and I'm sure she'll make the time to see me."

The girl at the desk sighed, and pushed a pad of paper and a quill towards her. "Write your name here, please." Leah did so, and the secretary added an extra note to the sheet, and folded it neatly with her wand and levitated it off into the offices behind her. It seemed to float on it's own accord, and then flap papery wings and head toward what Leah could only assume was Justine's office. A moment or two passed with no response, and Leah was beginning to get nervous. No note had been flown back to the secretary to either allow or deny her entrance to the auror office. Again she sniffed to herself. 'This never would have happened if my mother were here…'

Her thoughts were cut off abruptly by a large, burly woman with mahogany hair that was pulled behind her head in a messy ponytail barging heavily through the doors to the reception room. Leah gulped. It was none other than Justine Arborforth, but she seemed to have put on ten – or thirty pounds since they had last seen each other.

"Leah, my dear!" she boomed. "Is that you? Come here, dear girl, let me take a look at you!" The huge woman beckoned commandingly, and Leah, suddenly unsure of herself, paused. "Oh come on," Justine cackled. "Don't be shy!" She walked over and patted Leah on the back affectionately.

"No, no, of course not," Leah began. "SO nice to see you again, Mrs. Arborforth."

"Yes, of course it is! It's been such a long time indeed. Now, come back to my office dear, I want to hear all about everything!" She led Leah back through the doors, and into the small cubicles, each occupied by an auror. Leah saw pink hair over the top of one cubicle wall, and she held her breathe until they had passed it without incident.

When they reached Justine's office, Leah gingerly took a seat in one of the huge leather chairs, across the desk from Justine, who sank into her equally huge gothic desk seat.

"Now, then. What brings you here?" Justine asked her, folding her hands under her chins and leaning upon them heavily.

"Well," began Leah quietly. "I seem to have come across a bit of information, you see, about someone that I think the ministry is trying to catch."

Justine raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Leah nodded emphatically.

"And who would that be?"

The young woman looked over the desk at the auror section head, and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "Maya Howe," she said slowly. It didn't seem possible for Justine's eyebrows to raise any highter, but there they went, almost off the plain of her forehead.

"Your aunt, is it?" She asked, knowing the answer full well. Leah simply nodded once. "Well, let's see. She's not really on our radar at all, you know. Everyone thought she was dead, but it seems she's been living in America for years, now, hasn't she?"

"Well, yes," said Leah, knitting her brows. She had expected the round woman to jump all over the opportunity to convict this woman.

"Well, let's just see." Justine waved her wand, and a file flew onto the desk from a shelf on the side of the room. She opened it, and read through slowly. "I see. Wanted in California by the muggle police for the murder of one Olga Klanova, and wanted by the magical law enforcement on suspicion of murder as well as the unlawful use of magic in a crowded maggle area – lever three! Well, well, well. What did she do? Project it all over the telly?" Justine clucked, and shook her head. "Well, There's not much we can do … I suppose if you know where she is, we can send someone over-"

"Wait!" Leah barked, then regained her composure. Justine looked surprised. "I'm sorry, but … I do believe that the charges are incorrect – you see, I overheard her talking to someone … and I can tell you what really happened."

"Very well," Justine folded up the file, and gave Leah her full attention.

"It seems that Maya made a type of horcrux-" Leah was interrupted by the surprised gasp of the auror behind the desk.

"My dear, what do you know about such a horrible piece of magic?"

"Just what I'm about to tell,l you," Leah insisted. "Maya said that she made a horcrux of herself – a ring, I believe – and she put it on Olga so she could use her body after she died."

"What?" Justine was listening in rapt attention, flabbergasted at the girls story.

"Indeed," Leah muttered. "And to get off the hook with the Americans, she's planning on taking the ring off Olga Klanova's body, and putting it on her ailing father, faking his death, but effectively giving her a body and absolving her from the Klanova murder!"

"You heard all this?" Justine asked in awe. Leah just nodded, putting on her best 'frightened child' look. "Where were you that you would run into the likes of Maya Howe?"

Leah bit her lip in what she hoped looked like an attempt not to cry. "You see – Maya is in London right this instant," she began.

"Where?"

"Staying at the home of Remus Lupin!"

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"TONKS!"

The screech echoed through the halls of the auror corps, and Tonks looked up with an annoyed snort on her features. Harry peeked his head over the wall between their cubicles, and looked at his friend.

"Tonks? I believe Arborforth would like a word?" he said cheekily.

"She usually does," Tonks mumbled. "What did I do now? I've been here all morning!"

"Mmm, lucky you," Harry began, but before he could get the words out, another scream rippled through the room.

"POTTER!"

"Hah! You too!" Tonks giggled, and hopped up.

"Me? What did I do? I've been here all WEEK!" The two began to walk up the hall to Arborforth's office, supremely confused. They met the woman at the door.

"Potter. Tonks," Arborforth said with venom.

"Yes, ma'am?" Harry asked.

"DO come into my office for a moment," she smiled grimly. Tonks shrugged, and pushed the door open to reveal Leah sitting inone of the chairs by the desk.

"Oh, wotcher, Leah," she began, but Arborforth shoved both Tonks and Harry into the room and slammed the door.

"You two have been harboring a known criminal!" Justine accused loudly.

"What?" Harry looked form Justine to Leah. "You mean Maya?"

"Yes, I mean Maya. Do you know what she did? What she's plaaning to do?"

"Maya Howe?" Tonks scratched her head. "She didn't do anything! At least I don't THINK she did…"

"This poor child says that she overheard Maya talking to yet another convicted felon that you two insist on affiliating with that she was not ONLY the proud creator of a horcrux, but that she used it to steal the body of Olga Klanova, and now she is planning to kill her father!"

Harry just looked at Justine in awe. Tonks burst out laughing.

"Are you crazy?" Harry couldn't help but snap. "You built this theory on the story you got from HER?" Harry pointed at Leah dismissivly. "Leah HATES Maya! Of course she's going to make something like this up!"

"If you don't believe her, ask her yourself," Leah spoke up icely.

"An excellent plan," glowered Arborforth. Suddenly Harry and Tonks both had a very bad feeling about this situation. Arborforth began to escort Leah to the door. At the last minute she turned her head and hissed at them coldly,

"If I find any of this to be true – that woman will go to Azkaban, you YOU TWO will be out of a JOB!"

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The door slammed open, and Harry and Tonks ran into Lupin's home, yelling for Lupin, Snape and Maya.

"Remus! Where are you! Maya! We have to talk to you! Snape, for God's sake, where IS everyone!"

"Tonks? What is it?" Remus poked his head out of the kitchen. "Snape and Maya are out for the afternoon. They should be back-

"Right now," Snape hissed from behind the aurors. "What on Earth could be so important that you're carrying on like banshees?"

"Snape! Maya!" Harry and Tonks spoke at once, much to Snape's irritation.

"You guys," Maya said from behind Snape. "One at a time. Really!"

"Maya," Harry began breathlessly. "We've got a problem. Leah went to the ministry, and told the Auror corps that you're planning on murdering your father, and that you have a horcrux … and the minister and Arborforth are coming over tonight to question you!"

"WHAT?" Maya gasped.

Tonks nodded. "You've got to prove you didn't kill Olga and you're not going to kill you're father, or they might send you to Azkaban!"

"I think you both are forgetting that Maya would get a trial," Lupin piped in. "And since she isn't planning on doing or has done any of what Leah accuses her, I'm sure this won't be a problem." He looked up at Maya, who looked very pale. Lupin sighed and closed his eyes. "Or at least I assumed you hadn't done any of that…Maya!"

"Where can I go to get out of here?" she asked quickly.

"If you leave, we'll ALL have to leave," Tonks pointed out. "Our jobs are on the line, as is Remus's work visa and Snape's … well, nothing of Snape's, really, unless he's suddenly began to care about his reputation-"

"I have not."

"Okay, then, Snape doesn't matter. … but the rest of us are in a world of trouble, Maya. You have to do something. You can't keep running away!"

Snape sighed. "As much as it pains me deeply to agree with Nymphadora, I believe that may be the best course of action."

"What?" Maya sputtered. "What am I suppoed to do?"

"Well for one thing," Harry said pointedly. "What really happened to Olga?"

Maya moaned, and Snape stepped in. "Maya embedded herself in this ring, so that when she met her unfortunate demise at the hands of the Dark Lord we could revive her. Unfortunately, the ring found it's way into Trevor's possession, and was subsequesntly placed on the hand of Olga Klanova, who is now trapped somewhere within the confines of Maya's body," he said as a quick explanation. Harry stared, and Tonks raised an eyebrow.

"Well then for god's sake, Maya, get rid of the ring, and send Olga home! Then you won't be wanted for murder anymore!" Lupin exclaimed.

"But … what about me?" she asked, getting frightened. "I can't just … die …"

"Of course not," Snape rolled his eyes. "I'll keep the ring, and find a more … suitable host for you."

"That could take AGES!"

"Well, that's is the only option at this point," he said.

"Well, if you're going to do it, you better do it NOW," Tonks pushed. "I think the aurors just rang the doorbell!"

Maya looked over her shoulder in a panic. Snape grabbed her shoulders.

"Give it to me, Maya. It'll save you from prison." He held out his hand. She looked around at the three other people in the room, and took in a deep breathe. "MAYA!" Snape bellowed. She jumped.

"Okay, okay!" She took the ring in her fingers, closed her eyes and took a silent sigh, and then wrenched it from her hand. The four people in the room stared as Maya's womanly frame melted away into the sleek, athletic figure of Olga Klanova, tennis star. Olga blinked, and then stared around the room, looking from one face to the other, and then demanding loudly,

"Where the fuck is OLGA? Where is Trevor?" Her accent was grating, and her voice was shrill, and the doorbell was ringing more persistently now. Snape held the ring tightly in his fist, and looked in disgust at the young girl. Tonks dashed off to let the aurors in the house.

She threw the door open to greet not only the Minister of Magic and Justine Aberforth, but several other members of the American magical law enforcement team.

"Tonks," the minister nodded tersely. Tonks attempted a weak smile.

"What are they doing here?" she pointed to the Americans.

"We're here to detain the suspect Maya Howe," one man began. Tonks grimaced.

"Well, come in, then, I guess," she muttered unhappily, and stepped aside to allow their entrance, when something strange happened.

Olga Klanova walked out the front door.

"You," she pointed at one of the men. "You are American?" He nodded. "Good. I wish to go to my Trevor in California," she demanded hotly.

"Ms. Klanova?" one of the Americans asked.

"Yes," she answered impatiently.

"Were you detained her by Ms. Howe?"

"No, of course not," she said, annoyed. Tonks breathed a sigh of thanks that between Snape, Lupin and Harry, a memory charm had been put in place. Hopefully one good enough to not be found by the police agents.

"Mr. Minister," one of the American's said. "I'm sure you can deal with this little ordeal here," he continued. "I'm sure you realize my team here has to take Ms. Klanova home for questioning." He tipped his cap. "Keep my notified of your finding." And the three of them, with Olga in tow, apperated off to the United States.

**Almost done, guys! Yay! Next time: Death, Deceit, Distruction. PS, only three more chapters, as far as I can tell. WooHoo! R&R**


	33. Chapter 33

**Oh Man ... I don't know what to do with myself now that this thing is almost done ... Shheeeesh.**

"Your joking," Hermione said over her salad.

"Dead serious," Ron answered. "A bit ridiculous, don't you think?"

"More than ridiculous," she muttered, stabbing the lettuce with her fork forcefully.

"I do think the old bat enjoyed his little prank," Ron muttered.

Hermione shook her head. "Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelieveable."

"Hey guys." Harry came up and plopped down at the café table next to them.

"Harry!" Hermione cried. "Tell me exactly what happened with Olga and Maya!"

"I just told you," pouted Ron.

"Yes, Ron, but Harry was actually there."

Harry grinned. "It wasn't me, actually. It was mostly Snape. Although, Lupin toned her down a little bit."

"Tell me!" Hermione stared at her friend.

"Alright, alright!" Harry laughed. "Well, let's see. Ron told you about the ring, right?"

Hermione nodded. "I can't believe that Maya is encased in a piece of jewelry somewhere…after we just got back into contact with her!"

"Well, Snape has the ring for now. Although he has to go back to teaching tomorrow morning, and he doesn't want to apperate with it. He's afraid something might go wrong. Everyone seems really intimidated by whatever spells Maya used to create this mess."

"What's he going to do with it?" Hermione pushed.

"His choices were to give it to Lupin, Me or Tonks – so you can imagine his dilemma," Harry snorted. "You know he wouldn't dream of letting Tonks watch it – said something about her tripping and dropping it down a subway grate. And tomorrow is a full moon, so Lupin will be rather out of commission. Which leaves me," he finished.

"Snape is letting YOU watch Maya?" Ron said, clearly impressed. "You better not lose her," he mumbled.

"Ronald," Hermione snapped. "Don't even think such a thing! Now Harry, tell me about Olga!"

"Alright. So after Leah brought the aurors down on Lupin's house-"

"What a horrible thing to do," Hermione muttered.

"Yes, well, after they showed up, we had managed to get the ring off Maya, and Olga appeared, yelling and carrying on – so we messed with her memory a bit." Harry smiled. "Snape and Lupin reworked her memory so that she thinks that she went to Maya for help on how to escape from Trevor, and Maya helped hide her away for the last five years."

"Clearly, that's Lupin," Hermion said.

"Yeah, but then Snape managed to convince her that she has rehabilitated herself, you know, found her inner strength and such, and she was about to go confront Trevor about his obsessive and controlling habits." Harry paused. "She's really quite suggestable." He smiled widely.

"I never thought I would say this, but poor Trevor," Hermione mused, and went back to stabbing her salad.

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The next morning, Snape and Harry stood across the hall from each other in a position that Harry found obnoxiously familiar. Snape paced back and forth, and lectured Harry, punctuating each word with harsh stares. Harry was watching his former professor with a mixture of annoyance and humor. He wasn't a student anymore, he had to remind himself. Snape was just worried about Maya. But this was getting ridiculous.

"I know you have a problem with following directions, Potter, but this is very important. I don't have to remind you that this is a person's life we are talking about, not one of your meaningless projects int the auror corp."

"Meaningless!" Harry scoffed

"Don't interrupt, boy. I'm not finished. When I come back this afternoon, I want you standing front and center with this ring. Don't apperate with it. I don't know what affect that will have on the spell. Don't use any spells on it. In fact, just don't touch it unless absolutely necessary, and I can't imagine that it would be. Don't let it out of your sight. I do not want to come back to find that you've lost it."

"Snape! I can handle it. Really…" Harry shook his head and held out his hand. Snape sneered at him, but handed over the ring, lingered a glance on it, and then turned on his heel and stalked away from Harry. Harry rolled his eyes as he heard his old professor pop out of existence. Really, he thought, how hard could it be to keep track of one ring?

Outside, Leah, who had been staying with Aberforth, as she was no longer welcome in Lupin's home, saw Snape apperate to Kent university. She looked at her watch, and sat back against the wooden bench in the park across the street, and waited. Sooner or later Tonks would leave for work. Sooner or later it would just be Lupin, Harry and the child, and then she would make her move. And no one would be able to stop her.

It was almost 3 in the afternoon, and Leah had crept closer to the home. Through the window, she observed the threesome: Lupin seemed to be ill – he slept most of the day. Leah watched in disgust as Harry practiced fatherhood by playing games and entertaining the child. Finally, Brigid went down for a nap, and Harry went into the kitchen to begin dinner. Leah smiled to herself. This was the time.

She pulled out her wand, and snuck through the gate into the back yard. When Harry left the room, she whispered 'alohamora' lightly at the lock on the back door. She swung it open, and, wand out, padded silently into the kitchen. Before her mother had died, she had taught Leah much – certain dark spells that she said were necessary in life, certain ways to mold poisons to ones will, certain tricks with a wand that were useful in unusual situations. Leah waved her wand over the bubbling sauce, and watched in satisfaction as it thickened, and gave off a slightly acrid odor. Footsteps were heard, and she dashed into the laundry room off the side of the kitchen to wait.

Lupin was awake, and sitting at the kitchen table looking quite frail, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Harry served up two steaming plated of pasta, and sat to enjoy the food. He and Lupin chatted idly, and ate heartily, and Leah was beginning to get worried. Nothing was happening, and it was getting late. If Tonks or Snape came home, her plan was ruined. She was sure Snape would smell the toxins in the pasta – but at that moment, Lupin's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell out of his chair into a heap on the floor. Harry looked at him in shock, but then rolled out of his own chair, unconscious.

With very little time, Leah rushed out of the laundry room, wand in hand, and pulled Harry to the middle of the floor. She pulled at all of his pockets violently, a rage building within in her until she found what she was seeking. She pulled the ring from the chain around Harry's neck, yanking it from him with a sickening snap. Her lips quivered as she held the ring up in her fingers. Here she was: Maya Howe, the woman who killed her mother, who destroyed her life – and she was powerless. Leah threw Harry's wand to the side, and pulled his hand up to her level. She was about to slip the ring over his hand when she sensed a presence in the room. Leah looked up sharply, and saw Brigid standing in the doorway, eyes wide.

"Brigid!" Leah exclaimed, dropping Harry's hand.

"What's wrong with them?" Brigid pointed. "Why are they sleeping on the floor?"

"They needed a nap," Leah said airily, cursing herself for her shaking voice. Her adrenaline was bursting an bubbling in her ears, and she could barely focus on the young girl in front of her.

"Where's my mom?" Brigid asked, her voice shaking as well. She was about to start crying, and Leah suddenly had a very frightening idea. She stood and rushed to the young girl, kneeling down to her level.

"Brigid, your mom is gone." Her voice sounded harsh, and the child's eyes started to spill over with tears. "No, no! Don't cry, don't cry. You can bring her back."

"How?" Brigid asked through frightened tears.

"Like this," Leah said as she held up the ring to her. "Put this on your finger, and your mom will be back, just like that!" she snapped her fingers, and tried to smile reassuringly. It must have worked, because Brigid wiped her eys with the back of her hand and took the ring from Leah.

Leah quivered in anticipation and watched as Brigid smiled innocently at her and slid the ring on her finger. Leah began to smile maniacally and the change was almost immediate. Brigid seemed to disappear into a morphing body the grew and twisted until Maya Howe stood in front of her. Leah stood, and back away by a few steps, her wand pointed directly at her.

"What the …" Maya looked around, confused for a moment, until her eyes came face to face with the business end of Leah's wand. "Leah?" Leah's lip curled, and a flash of fear crossed her eyes, but was gone before Maya could capitalize on it. She raised her wand….

Snape apperated into Lupin's yard after a long and trying day of teaching. He never realized how useful Nozomi had really been. Without her, he had to run class, grade papers, and wander around the chemistry lab helping inept students with experiments by himself. He hadn't come home from work so annoyed since he worked at Hogwarts.

He walked through the front door, and immediately noticed something was amiss. The smell in the air – it was as if someone had been brewing a very strong tomato-flavored knock-out potion. What was Potter trying and failing to do? He quickened his pace around the corner – and came face to face with a scene that horrified even him. He grabbed for his wand, but it was too late – Maya's wide eyes looked straight at Leah's wand as the words "Avada Kedavra!" shot a green stream of deadly light right into Maya's chest. Her eyes rolled back, and her body was blasted backwards. Leah stared at the body in front of her, her hand shaking slightly, not knowing what to do.

Snape burt into action.

"Leah!" She turned, just in time to see Snape petrify her.

The next half hour was a blur for Snape. He held Maya's body – this was the second time he had watched her die at the hands of her family. Harry awoke, as did Lupin, and the aurors, sensing the killing curse, arrived in a flury. They tried to grab Snape, but Tonks stopped them, and Harry conurred that Leah should be taken into custody. A quick wand test to see the last spells fired from each wand gave the aurors reasonable doubt to take Leah's stiff form into headquarters.

"We need to take Maya into custody as well, I'm afraid," whispered Tonks to Snape, who was still kneeling on the floor.

He looked up, eyes blazing. "Obviously that will be impossible," he said with fury.

"Snape, hae you forgotten? The ring … just take it off, and she's alive again." Tonks placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up wildly.

"Yes, of course," he said, and stood stiffly.

"We need to send her to trial for this little work of spells … believe me, Snape, I don't want to …" Tonks trailed off, looking extremely guilty and almost beside herself.

"I understand," Snape said stonily. "But we've forgotten one thing." He motioned to Maya's body. "There has been a death here."

Tonks looked at the body for a moment before the realization that once the ring came off, someone else would be dead, hit her.

"Oh bugger," she whispered. "Alright, someone has to do this. It should be me," and she knelt to Maya's limp hand.

"No," said Snape, and grabbed her arm. "Let me." He knelt down, and took Maya's hand in his. It felt like her hand and looked like her hand, and the thought that someone else would appear from inside her once the ring was removed was almost too bizarre for him to understand on an emotional level. He looked around. Who had been here? Lupin, Harry and Tonks were accounted for. Who else would have been here? Hermione? One of the Weasleys? Certainly not Minerva … and then he had a frightening moment of epiphany.

"Oh – " he took the finger very gingerly, and paused with his fingers wrapped around it. He looked up at Tonks, who gave him a look of non-understanding. He set his face in a stoic expression of non-emotion, and slipped the ring off onto his fist.

And the auror corp watched as Maya Howe's body morphed twisted into the small, deceased form of four-year-old Brigid, who lay at their feet with a peaceful look on her face.

**Awww. Sadness. Almost done, guys! Two more chapters. Count em, TWO! Tell me what you think of this recent development, eh'? Read and Review!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Oh my God. This is it. It's actually done. I'm quite impressed with myself, actually. Go Team! Tell me what you think, guys! Don't be shy!**

The trail of the month was underway. The Daily Prophet had every reporter on staff in the Ministry of Magic that day for the duel trial of Leah McWharton and Maya Howe. Leah's trial was quick and easy: she had used the killing curse on another witch, and managed to kill her as well as her muggle child: it was being counted as 1 and a half murders, a first in almost five years for the British Ministry. Leah sat through the trial, barely audible when answering the quickfire questions of the ministry panel. Maya, who had been transferred into a ministry employee volunteer for the duration of the trial (until a more permanent host was found), sat in the back of the room, eyes downcast, the light gone from her.

The Minister of Magic questioned Leah:

"Did you use the killing curse to Murder Maya Howe, aka Jasmine Von Tost?"

"I-yes, but I-"

"Did you knowingly use this curse to murder and or incapacitate one Brigid Von Tost, daughter of Maya Howe, aka Jasmine Von Tost?"

"No, I just wanted-"

"You wanted to do what, exactly?"

"I just wanted to-"

"Answer the question, Ms. McWharton."

"Yes, but not on purpose…"

"Did you or did you not willingly and knowingly attempt to kill Maya Howe aka Jasmine Von Tost?"

"Mr. Minister, I think that given the fact that Maya Howe is still alive," came the livid voice of Mr. McWharton form the stands, "That that murder should be stricken from the counts against my daughter!"

"Fine, we'll count it as attempted murder, and you're in contempt of court." The minister banged his gavel, and two guards escorted Leah's protesting and flailing father out of the room.

"Wait," Leah gasped out, spinning around to look at her father.

"Yes, Ms. McWharton? You have something to say?" The minister glared down at her.

"She killed my mother!" Leah finally managed to burst out, pointing wildy.

"And you killed my child!" Maya screamed, finally throwing her head up. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her lips were white and cracked.

Leah looked taken aback at first, but then narrowed her eyes.

"You killed your own sister!" She started at Maya, and was restrained by the aurors. "She killed Meena McWharton!" she looked wildly at the minister.

"In fact, she did not," the Minister snapped. "Do we have a confession?"

"That's a confession," affirmed the witch next to him, reading through the record of the trial that was being written by a floating quill on a long scroll of parchment.

"Get her out of here," the minister said under his breath. "Leah McWharton, we at the Ministry of Magic do find you guilty of the murder of the muggle child Brigid Von Tost, and the attempted murder of Maya Howe aka Jasmine Vont Tost." He then leaned over to the witch next to him. "Why do they all have to have so many names? This grows tiresome." The witch shook her head. He turned back to Leah, who was staring at him with a mixture of fear and hatred. "The court sentences you to ten years in Azkaban prison."

There was a collective gasp, and Leah flinched, and then wailed, and fought with all her might against the aurors who had swarmed in to pull her out of the room. Maya watched her go, her eyes cold and vengeful.

"Very well, very well-" the minister stood, and held up his hands for silence. "We will now commence with the trial of Miss Maya Howe, aka … okay, for the record, can the quill just add the aka Jasmine Von Tost to all mentions of Maya Howe? Thank Heavens. Alright, as to the trial of Maya Howe-" ha paused, and waited for the guards to escort the limp and frighteningly frail-looking Maya to the stand. She lolled her head to the side, and seemed to be unaware of her own surroundings.

"Ms Howe," the minister began, "we have thouroghly examined your 'interesting' piece of jewelry, and you do realize that while not technically a horcrux, it does fall into a category of dark and acient magical practice that cannot be ignored by this administration."

"Fine. I confess. Sure." Maya leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

"Very well, Ms. Howe, but I must say that while your confession and acceptance of your fate is refreshing, we have a problem in that you have no BODY in which to serve your SENTENCE." The minister chewed his lip in annoyance.

"Minister!" came a voice from the back of the courtroom. The minister looked up. Tonks and Lupin were standing in the doorway. Tonks was waving wildly to get his attention, and Lupin was holding Athena, who looked, if possible, even worse than Maya, by the arm. Aria stood behind the three of them with her arms crossed, looking distant and slightly shaken up.

"Ms Tonks? Does your rather unpleasant and unwanted interruption have any relevance to the situation at hand?"

"Um, It does, actually," she said, and scurried up to the minister. "You see, there have been some developments in the past days…"

"Please come to the point, Ms. Tonks," the minister tapped his fingers on the table impatiently.

"Well – Satinum Howe has just passed away, you see, and he seems to have left everything to his remaining daughters."

"Ladies, I'm very sorry for your loss," the minister said in the direction of the back of the room, and then came face to face with Tonks. "Why does that MATTER?"

"He left his body to Maya," Tonks said slowly.

The minister leaned back, scratched his chin, and leaned over to the witch keeping the scroll record. They whispered back and forth for a moment, and then the minister nodded, and sat straight again.

"Very well, Ms. Tonks." The minister sat taller, and looked down his nose at Maya. "Ms. Howe, you will be sentenced to 16 months in Azkaban prison, followed by 5 years of magical probation. As well, your being shall be re…" he paused and waved his hand, as if he were searching for the right word. "Re-attached," he finally decided on, "to your new body, and the ring will then be destroyed."

Maya was silent. The minister looked at her for a moment, waited, and then cleared his throat. "As the nature of your crime was not violent, you have 24 hours to get your affairs in order. Ms. Tonks will escort you."

The minister continued talking, but Maya didn't hear any of his words. Her daughter was gone, her father was dead, and now she was going to jail. She wouldn't see Severus or her sisters for another year and a half. The last of her energy flagged, and she sagged. The guards caught her, and began to take her out of the room. She was breathing hard, and her vision was blurring, and in the background, someone was yelling about something – she couldn't tell, she was passing out … and suddenly, there was Severus, standing in front of her in the door of the courtroom, taking her limp body in his arms, and holding her softly. She looked up at him, and reached for his face, but she couldn't grasp anything. She faded into unconsciousness. Snape held her, eyeing her with an inreadable expression. He pulled her to her feet, lifted her, and walked her out of the room with Tonks at his heels.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm nnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnn

Maya's eyes fluttered open. She was in the living room of Lupin's flat, laying on the couch. Snape was sitting on the chez near her, watching her sleeping form. He raised an eyebrow as she sat up slowly, and looked at him.

"Good morning," he said dryly.

"Morning?" she said almost frantically.

"Yes," he said getting up and joining her on the couch before she could stand.

"What happened?" Her voice cracked uncomfortably, and she swallowed. Her voice sounded hollow, and her eyes seemed to be more sunken and empty than they had the day before. She looked down at her hands, and then gasped. "My ring!"

"The change is complete," Snape said, taking her hands in his.

Maya gasped, and then leaned her head back. "This is for real, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so."

Maya sighed. "Well, then, I guess this is it," she said sadly. She looked at him.

Snape raised an eyebrow, with a hint of sadness in his eye. "In a sense. You're heading off to Azkaban, and since I don't intend on returning to such a place, we will be without each others company for some tme."

"I don't blame you," she said. "But really, if you think about it, now that we're both going to be Azkaban alumni, we're just MEANT for each other." There was no humor in her voice, and her weak smile was forced.

"Maya, you seem to think that I'll be moving on with my life while you're gone." He pulled invisible lint from his robes. "I can assure you that if I haven't married and created a suburban paradise for myself in the decade-long spans of time between our relationships, I won't be doing so in the next year."

Maya said nothing, but put her arms around him, and leaned herself into him, embracing him tightly. Snape stroked her hair, and felt her sigh shakily.

"Why?" She looked up into his eyes, and for the first time since Brigid had died, Snape saw the anger coming out. He waited for her to continue. "Why would you want me? I'm good for nothing! I'm a middle-aged divorcee who cant keep her children ALIVE-" she spat out the last word, and bit her lip. "I'll be an ex-con who can't actually use magic … It'll be as if you were shacked up with a squib or a … a …. A MUGGLE until you're fifty!"

"I assure you I will not," he said as if the idea was distasteful. "I do not 'shack up', as you put it, with anyone." He picked up her chin. "Listen to me, Maya. Tonks is in the next room. She'll be in here in ten minutes to escort you back to the ministry." Maya's eyes gained a sense of panic.

"I love you, Severus," she said, leaning her forehead against his. He caressed her cheek softly.

"Maya, I assure you that I love you as well. I have since I was twelve years old, and one more year isn't going to change that." He pulled her up, and kissed her lightly.

"Sev, oh Sev." She held him tightly.

"Maya, Maya listen to me." He held her gaze. "I'm not necessarily the type to embrace domicticity – but If you'd be agreeable to the idea, I'd like to ask you to marry me. Again." He paused. "I sincerily hope you don't run out of the room this time, as I abhore reliving the terrible memories of my childhood." He looked at her, and saw that a real smile was beginning to form. She was nodding.

"Yes, yes, Sev, of course."

"And Maya," he continued uncomfortably, avoiding her gaze. "I know how important Brigid was to you – I'm willing to … If you would like a child, I would be … willing to …. happy to give you that."

Maya leaned up and kissed him hard, and then looked back at him. Her eyes were sad, but full of love for the man in front of her. "Severus, thank you. But I'm beginning to think that some people just weren't meant to have children."

He paused, and watched her stand and take a few tentative steps toward the door.

"Are you referring to me? Or yourself?" he asked curiously.

She looked at him, and waited for him to reach her and wrap himself tightly around her before she answered: "I'm not sure." And she grabbed him tightly and kissed him for the last time before heading off to serve her sentence.

EPILOGUE:

Snape sat at his desk at Kent university. The 16 months had been long and trying, but he had kept a low and quiet profile. He had pretty much stayed away from everyone he knew: he had made a brief appearance at the Lupin and Tonks wedding, but had left abruptly when someone had let it out that he would be marrying Maya when she returned from Azkaban. Since then he had been reclusive and devoted to his teaching. Until today.

Today she was coming home. The closk struck four, and Snape stood. Usually he walked home, but today he apperated directly into his flat. He walked around the living room for a moment wondering what to do with himself, when he heard something behind him. He turned, and and there she was, standing in his silk bathrobe, her hair wet, and falling in dripping tendrils around her face.

"Maya," he said.

"I took a bath," she began, walking slowly to him. "Prison tends to ruin a girl's appearance." She reached him, and they looked at each other for a moment. She threw herself into his arms, and he embraced her roughly. He ran his hands over her body, and grabbed her hair. He waved his wand, and a small box floated over to him, one that he had been saving for almost eight months now, until the day she came back to him. He kissed her roughly, and held her close, and held the box tightly in his free hand. And as he slipped a large green-stoned ring over her finger, her robe slipped off into a puddle onto the floor around her feet, and a sense of contentment came over the both of them that felt right – something that they hadn't felt since they were seventeen years old. And finally the man who, in a seemingly different lifetime, had been a death eater and the woman who, in a seemingly different lifetime, was the heir to a dark fortune of magic, were able to begin anew as a couple in love, in a small, muggle flat in the United Kingdom as if life had been normal all along.

The End.

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